


Fire, Ice, and Moonlight

by luckystars1015



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Cross Over, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-07-13 16:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 37,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16022084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckystars1015/pseuds/luckystars1015
Summary: The transfer of an enigmatic, but very powerful student causes an uproar at Ultra Academy and Todoroki Shouto will get to the bottom of this mystery. Serenity Tsukino x Shouto Todoroki





	1. Half and Half

The vortex surrounding a silver-haired woman was bright and blue. Rays of light spun around each other, escaping and jumping into another swirl like frogs between lily pads. The bans of light bounced off cerulean eyes, highlighting the silver specks swimming in them. In her current form of Sailor Cosmos, Serenity was adorned in white and silver. Her familiar sailor suit hugged her curves and fluttered around her as she made her way through the path of stars. 

 

Silver, iridescent hair twisted into two identical spheres at the top of her head as two rivers of platinum trailed behind her. Bangs parted in the middle to nestle a golden upturned moon, a stalwart symbol to her past and future. No matter where she went and whichever form she took, she always stood out. Her beauty was undeniable, even to species who had no knowledge of human standards. Her shine could never be hidden. 

 

The maiden neither felt warm or cold in this space pocket between universes. She wondered if whether her senses had become accustomed to traveling in the vortex or whether the space truly had no concept of heat. Her journey as a multiverse traveler felt long, but compared to some of the other travelers she had met in other worlds, her time was like a drop falling into a lake. 

 

While others had some if not all control over their space-time powers, Serenity still had a long way to go. Recently, she had met a man who, along with the ability to regenerate, had a magical spaceship that could take him anywhere in time and space. He simply had to input the coordinates and time frame into a machine he reverently called the T.A.R.D.I.S. and voila, there they were on the Planet Crepturion a billion years before the earth even began forming. She tried to study the machine in order to apply it to her own powers, but it was difficult for her to form a connection. She left her new friend, the Doctor, with more questions than answers. 

 

If she could learn to control where she would land in her universe jumps, she could finally go home. That was the one thing she had desired most, regardless of any and all treasures she would find in any universe. The most priceless treasure was to return to her family and friends’ arms and be embraced by their comforting warmth. 

 

A pull centered in her heart dragged her from her thoughts. The crystal upon her chest pulsed, radiating power. It was the source of her energy, her life force, yet in all her adventures, she still couldn’t comprehend how it worked. It seemed to have a mind of its own. She smiled wistfully, at least she had some sort of companion on her journey. The pulses were getting stronger and she could pick out a patch of light in the vortex that was brighter than the rest. Looks like the Silver Imperium Crystal found their next destination. 

 

\--

One moment, bright light filled the recesses of her vision, the next, she was completely enwrapped in darkness. Putting her palm to her face to make sure her eyes were indeed open, she realized that it was her senses that had not adjusted to the jump. Space traveling did that to a person. You never know where you’re going to end up and what predicament you just poofed into. Hopefully, she was still on Earth this time around. Or at least a planet with a similar gravity. She remembered a time when she had landed on a planet that’s grass was blue and its water green, and unfortunately for her, had a gravity that was twice as strong her Earth’s. Her limbs were screaming for weeks after the stint on that planet. 

 

As her senses slowly returned to her, the first thing she noticed were the sirens. It was surprising that she couldn’t have heard them before, because they were deafening. It seemed to come from all directions. She gulped. Sirens were a universal sign for trouble and boy was she in for it. Next the smell of smoke wafted into her nose. It wasn’t strong, so that meant the fire wasn’t close to her. When she finally looked upwards to be met with rectangles blocking most of the night sky, she finally deduced that she was in an alleyway. Alleys meant human civilization and civilization meant that she stood on her home planet! She was most surely on Earth! Or at least some alternate universe version of it anyhow. 

 

Regardless, it seemed that the environment she landed in was in chaos. Large, white wings sprouted from her back and she shot upwards to get a better vantage point of her surroundings. What she had thought were the rays of the setting sun turned out to be the light of a blaze engulfing half the city. Flames licked the skirt of the horizon and the city crumbled beneath its own weight. She gasped in horror, wishing that the screams rippling through the night sky wouldn’t be etched in her mind. But she’s been wrong before. 

 

The only thing that could possibly settle this conflagration would be rain. Face set in hard resolution, she summoned her staff from her subspace pocket. Serenity held her faithful weapon above her and pointed upwards to the sky. Storm clouds swirled around her, growing heavy with water. When she deemed the clouds massive enough, she spread them in all directions to cover the area. Within moments, the rain clouds dumped gallons of water on the multiple infernos in the city. People everywhere were confused by the sudden rainstorm, the weather forecaster most of all. 

 

Whether it was a mistake or a miracle, it didn’t matter to the people of the once burning city. Serenity’s ears could pick up joyful shouts aimed at the heavens above them. The rain left as quickly as it came. With the silver-haired soldier’s undisciplined control of her magic, she couldn’t sustain long periods of power usage. 

 

It was only recently where she had discovered she could control other elements. She had traveled to the world where a powerful being known as the Avatar existed to bring harmony to the four elements. He was able to bend air, water, earth, and fire to his will. When she had journeyed with him, her latent powers seemed to climb to the surface. Left and right, flames, water beams, and gusts of air bursted from her fingertips as the earth quivered beneath her footsteps. Serenity genuinely thought that her power only resided in the moonlight’s domain. 

 

Since the Avatar and his friends were quite an open-minded and kind group, she had revealed to them of her origins and powers. Good thing she had told them the truth as originally they had thought that another Avatar had appeared, shaking the already precarious balance of the world. Through training with the Avatar for a short period of time, Serenity surmised that she gained these elemental powers from her fellow Sailor Scouts. Her heart had twisted with nostalgia at the memories of her comrades and the battles they fought together. No wonder the powers felt so familiar, even though she never used them before. Even the rain clouds she created today were a glorified version of Mercury’s Aqua Mist. No matter how painful it was to be separated from her loyal Sailor Scouts, it was comforting to know that in one way or another, they were still protecting her. 

 

A little out of breath, she drifted down to the streets. That had taken more out of her than she originally thought. A massive exertion of power after just completing a space jump was exhausting even for Serenity. She still had a long way to go before mastering her newfound elemental powers. She willed her wings to break apart into shards of light in order to conserve her energy. 

 

The pavement was wet from the sudden burst of rain and the recesses of the short storm filtered into the city’s drainage system. As her breath settled, she began to think about her next course of actions. Should she fly to the areas of disaster and assist anybody who were still in danger? Or should she wait and assess the environment she was in before charging blind into unknown territory? Honestly with her track record, even if she did decide to wait around, trouble would come running to her. 

 

_ And it did.  _

 

Trouble took the form of a black-skinned monster with plate-sized eyes, a shark-like jaw, and exposed brain matter. Below the neckline was the body of an engorged bodybuilder with grotesque muscles rippled across its surface. This one definitely went overboard with the protein powder. As it turned the corner and dashed at breakneck speeds towards Serenity, she briefly wondered if she had unknowingly traveled into the world of a child’s worst nightmare. The silver-haired beauty was a muscle spasm away from enacting the latter of her fight-or-flight response, but her quick eyes discerned that the monster changed its course. Instead of bounding towards its previous target, it refocused on one that was much closer. A group of five had just emerged from an alleyway two blocks where she had first appeared in. 

 

“Oh Quiznark!” On a galaxy far, far away, that translated to “oh shit.”

 

Not wasting a moment to hesitate, she dashed towards the bird-brained monster. “Venus Love-Me Chain!” her voice pierced through the night sky and tore the creature’s attention away from its intended victims. A golden chain shot out of her palm and whipped around the monster several times, effectively encaging its arms to its sides and immobilizing it. Serenity used the momentum from her sprint to fling the monster over her head and a half a block over. The platinum blonde briefly turned her neck to observe the group she had just saved from being monster meat. She was very glad to see them: actual people. For a moment there, she thought that her Silver Crystal sent her to a world with hyper-steroid bird men. She wouldn’t put it past the mysterious [orb]; it had sent her to worse places. 

 

There was a man in a Native American garb holding a rope tied around an unconscious black-haired bandaged man sitting on the ground. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have guess that these adult men were playing a game of Cowboys and Indians. The rest of the group seemed to be mere children or at the very most, teenagers. Of course Serenity shouldn’t be speaking as she was still considered a teen in Earth years. But with all her time traveling and universe hopping, who was keeping track of the days? She certainly wasn’t. There was one freckled boy in a green jumpsuit piggy backing the Native American-dressed man and another much taller glasses-wearing male in a suit of armor. 

 

The one who had caught her eye the most was a boy with his hair color split into two: one side red and the other white. Their eyes met for a split second before the ear-splitting roar of the creature stole Serenity’s attention again. 

 

The ebony beast had broke through her Venus Love Me Chain as if it were made of paper. With its attention solely on Serenity, it charged like a bull. A series of curses from different languages flooded the silver-haired beauty’s mind. Most of her powerful attacks were long ranged. They had always been successful as she always had her fellow Sailor Soldiers covering her blind spots and weakening the monsters so that she could easily finish them off. For now, her best plan was to increase the distance between her and the beast long enough so she could charge up her scepter. Her eyes flitted back to the group near the alley. How was she supposed to battle the creature while still protecting them? Even though she had the power of five people, she still only had the body of one. 

 

No. Now was not the time for self-doubt. There was only one truth to this situation: she had to protect those people, no matter what. Fueled by her new resolution, she backflipped a few times, landing two dozen feet ahead of the bird-brain and successfully luring it away from the speechless group. The monster was fast and Serenity’s heart slammed against her ribcage as its large form closed in on her. Okay. If she couldn’t charge up any of her typical long range attacks, she would have to settle for the elemental hand-to-hand combat she studied under the tutelage of the Avatar and friends. She had only trained for a couple of months with the entourage, but through all her previous journeys, Serenity was becoming a fast learner. Part of the reason was that it was much easier to adapt by accepting the flow of things. 

 

Landing on her feet with a yard separating the dreadful monster, she stomped her left foot forward as if the ground were a drum. A foot-thick barrier of cement shot up, effectively halting the creature in its pursuit. Its face made a sickening sound at it hit the wall head on. The wall of cement fell down like a pile of sand, returning to its original flattened shape. Wasting no time, she summoned fire to set her hands and feet ablaze. Pivoting on her front foot, she drew her back leg up to swing a round kick down on her enemy’s neck. Her firepower had given her an extra boost, increasing the momentum and power of the kick. Her pride in such an excellent execution quickly left her when the impact of the kick didn’t even make an indent on the monster’s skin. Her attack would have sent a normal human flying across the street but against the monstrosity, it was like kicking a giant, albeit muscular Pillsbury Dough Boy. 

 

She attempted a couple more fire-powered punches like this but to no avail. The monster seemed to also be sobering up as it shook its head out of the wall-induced concussion it just had. She sweatdropped, a tide of fear replacing the adrenaline rush she had seconds earlier. Serenity was at her ends of her rope now, and there was nothing short of a miracle to get her out of this. 

 

Preparing for its onset of attack, the monster drew in a deep breath and puffed itself out, like a human trying to scare a bear away. Except it was the beast who was the bear and she, the little cornered rabbit. A chain of synapses fired off in her brain once she realized that the creature just drew in a breath of  _ air _ . Serenity had one more element up her sleeve and it was all around her. 

 

The sailor suited soldier moved her arms in front of her as if she were stirring liquid in a giant pot. The air around them danced in tandem to the motion of her arms and began to circle around the shark-toothed monster. Serenity made the air twist around the mutant creature and form a dome. As her arms rotated faster and faster, so did the air around the entrapped creature. Soon, the air zooming around the monster moved so fast that it was stealing the air inside it. The breath was literally ripped out of his lungs. This torture was akin to drowning on land. If the monster had been quick enough, he could have easily broken through the air dome with his brute strength alone, but Serenity had the element of surprise.

 

The behemoth collapse on the ground with a heavy thump. On her part, Serenity fell to her hands and knees, breathing deeply and praying that the creature would not get up anytime soon. She doubted that her last attempt killed it as it was sturdier than most of the things she’d seen on her travels. When her breathing slowed to the point where she wasn’t huffing and puffing anymore, she looked towards the speechless group of males. Great. Maybe enormous freakish beasts were a thing, but not magical superpowers? Had she expose herself this early into the journey? This had to be a new record for her. Ten minutes after exiting the safety of the space vortex. 

 

Surprisingly, the half-white, half-red boy called out to her across the street. “Is he still alive?” He? Her eyes almost fell out of her skull. Wait...was this thing human?!? That’s impossible! Immediately after thinking that, Serenity wanted to hit herself in the head. After all of her travels, impossible should be wiped from her vocabulary. 

 

Before she could respond, a pterodactyl-like screech sounded from the corner. Her heart dropped. She was at her last drop in her power reserve. She probably couldn’t even light a candle at this rate. Like a falcon, a creature similar to the one Serenity had just narrowly defeated swooped down to the street and wrapped its claws around the exhausted platinum blonde. With the silver-haired damsel in tow, it flew towards the direction of the group, passing directly above them. 

 

Unbeknownst to her, the tied up black-haired man she had seen earlier awoke, quickly unraveling himself from his bondage, and successfully taking down the monster in a fell swoop. She was about to thank the man but the looks of horror on the group in front of her stopped her. Serenity was about to ask what was going on until she felt it. She didn’t need to be in this man’s field of vision to feel his blood-curdling intensity. A chill ran up the paralyzed woman as the full pressure of the man settled on her. It was if he had called for an ocean of blood to flood their vicinity at this exact second. No one around him had the guts to lift a finger in the wake of his intense bloodthirst. 

 

This was too much. Her powers faded away and her Sailor Cosmos transformation came undone despite every fiber of her being screaming at her to run away. Serenity could do nothing as the hands of unconsciousness wrapped around her mind, blocking any and all sensation.


	2. Elemental Hero

“So there you have it. You three will not face a public punishment for your actions with the Hero Killer Stain as long as you all not reveal the fact that you were involved with the incident.” The dog-faced police chief finished with a soft woof. The aforementioned trio breathed a sigh of relief. Todoroki Shouto returned to his usual passive mask, still surprised with himself that he had spoken up against the police chief. But if he had followed protocols and ignored Midoriya’s message, then his friends’ encounter with Stain would have had a bloodier outcome. The three of them were barely holding up against him as it was. If any one of the three boys hadn’t been at the scene, who knows what would have happened. Those minutes fighting the Hero Killer had stretched into hours in Todoroki’s memories, his head replaying the scenes like a broken record. He looked down at his hands, watching his fingers twitch, reminding himself that he had indeed survive the impossible. 

 

Speaking of the impossible, there was one more loose end to last night’s incident that still hadn’t been resolved. Who was that silver-haired girl who had gone hand-to-hand with the Nomu creature and won? He had only ever seen All Might go head to head and even the number one hero endured a long and grueling battle before the monster had submitted. While it did seem that she couldn’t match the creature brute strength, the way she had used her quirks was completely out of this world. He had never seen someone power up a round kick with a fire or create a vacuum by accelerating the movement of air like that. 

 

The fact that she had a fire quirk at all was astonishing on its own. Other than his father and himself, he had never seen anyone else with the quirk. Elemental quirks were quite rare. And if someone had the luck of being born with one, they were almost always guaranteed to grow powerful under the right tutelage. To top it off, she could control not one, but two other elemental quirks. Since the first superhuman power had been discovered, he had never heard of a case where a person controlled three quirks.

 

His mind flashbacked to when she came crashing into the scene, seemingly appearing out of thin air. In the brief second before she headed off to battle, turquoise and grey eyes met crystalline blues and Todoroki felt he had been whisked into a whirlpool. He felt an inexplicable pull towards the mysterious girl and every part of his body ached to satiate that curiosity. 

 

He had reckoned that she was around his age. Even though she was seconds away from fighting one of the most feared creatures in the city, there was still a sort of innocence in those eyes. He wondered if that’s what the adult heroes see in the UA students, most of whom had not faced any real battles. 

 

Curiosity burning inside him, he lifted his head to face the group again. “Where happened to the other girl at the crime scene?”

 

“Hmm?” the chief paused for a moment, “Oh! You mean the one with the two buns on her head? I have to admit, her hairstyle is very memorable! Reminds me of dumplings!” The dog chief barked out in laughter at his own joke. Midoriya was the only one polite enough to respond with a soft, awkward laugh. 

 

Clearing his throat, he reverted back to his strict tone and said, “in all seriousness, we couldn’t find anything about this girl. She wasn’t in the National Hero database, or  _ any _ database for that matter. We’re also keeping her involvement in last night incident under tight wraps. What I heard from Nativity though, she did quite a number on one of the Nomu villains! [so for now…]” The Chief of Police uncharacteristically threw an enthusiastic thumbs up into the room. He deflated a bit when no one seemed to return his gesture. 

 

The dog-man stuck his head out the door and called in the nearest nurse. “Is she ready to be awoken for questioning?” The nurse slid behind a curtain hiding a fourth bed in the room that none of the boys had noticed before. She picked up the clipboard showing the patient’s vitals and status update. “Yes. The patient has been stabilized.”

 

The nurse pulled the curtains, walking around the edge of the bed so everyone had a full view of the occupant. “Seems she didn’t sustain much injury from the battle last night. Just depleted a lot of energy after overexerting her quirk.” The nurse reached in her coat pocket to pull out a small marble-like capsule and crushed it under the still sleeping patient. The wake up gas invaded the the girl’s nostril and jolted her senses awake, ripping her away from slumber. The maiden shot up from the bed and took in a sharp inhalation of air. The nurse stumbled back a bit, surprise at the reaction, but quickly regained herself to try and assuage the wakened patient. “Sorry about that honey. Guess you never had a Quick-Wake-Me-Up pellet before.” She rubbed the girl’s back soothingly in effort to calm her. 

 

“Is it just me…” whispered Iida low enough for only the two other boys to hear, “or didn’t she have silver hair the last time we saw her?” Now that he mentioned it, how did Todoroki not notice the glaringly obvious change in her person? Instead of tresses of silver, blonde locks flowed like a river down her person. The sunlight entering the hospital room bounced off her hair, making it shine like the finest gold. Honestly, he probably hadn’t noticed the difference because the only thing he could focus on in that moment were her eyes. Now that they weren’t under the dim lighting of the city night, he was drawn in by brilliant blue orbs that swirled like the ocean.

 

The first thing she did when she restored her normal breathing rate was openly stare at the police chief for a  _ really  _ long time. After several failed attempts to get the blonde girl to answer him, he whispered to the nurse, “maybe she hit her head during the fight. Should we get her an MRI?” 

 

Serenity couldn’t hear a word of what was going on around her because there was only one thing her mind could focus on.  _ Holy mother of pearls _ , she was staring at a talking, bipedal dog who was almost twice her size. Yes, this shouldn’t be surprising due to the fact that she: one, has a talking cat as a pet back home, and two, traveled across universes as her arguably main profession, but this was one was one for the books. 

 

Regaining her composure, she took a moment to survey the other occupants in the hospital room. She hadn’t recognized any of the people standing in front of her, but when her eyes fell upon the other patients in the room, her eyebrows shot up in recognition. It was the same three boys from last night! Seemed like they were recovering from their own injuries. 

 

As her eyes landed on the boy with white and red hair, she couldn’t help but pause to gaze into the piercing grey and turquoise eyes. There was something about him that was so magnetizing and it simultaneously frustrating and intriguing that Serenity couldn’t pinpoint it. An awkward cough from someone in the room broke the staring contest that had just ensued between her and the boy. She blushed, her cheeks matching closely to the boy’s scarlet hair. The flaxen-haired girl shook her head out of her daze and drew her attention back to the dog-man who began asking questions about her identity. 

 

The chief of police flipped a pocket sized notepad. “So, Miss. Guess we’ll start with your name,” he stated as he clicked his pen. 

 

Serenity stayed quiet, unable to bring herself to answer the question. In her travels, she learned quickly that it was better to be silent about her powers. Most would brand her a lunatic, but many other would either covet or fear her abilities and the outcome left both physical and mental scars that never fully healed. It was more advisable to reveal her secret to only the most trusted of friends. Since she still couldn’t control her spacetime powers, it was hard to teleport out of less than desirable predicaments like the one she was in right now. 

 

From the looks of surprise on the males’ faces last night, her powers were definitely considered abnormal in this world. With the added complication of this being a modern society, they probably had identity tracking databases, so she couldn’t craft one out of thin air. Even if she created an alias on the spot, eventually she would come to questions she could not answer or else she would give away her alieness. The other option was to lie and pretend that she had no memories, but playing an amnesiac was getting a bit old. It was easier that way to get her inquires about the world answered without strange looks, but Serenity was a horrible actress. Her face was easier to read than a children’s book. 

 

So she took a page out of Rini’s book and grabbed a silver pen from her space pouch. Serenity held it in front of her with one hand, and with the other, quickly moved to shield her eyes from what she was about to do next. The moment she clicked the pen, a bright light flashed, temporarily blinding all the room’s occupants. Instead of cringing and moving to rub their eyes, the people in the room gazed back at Serenity, hypnotized. A wave of guilt washed over her. She hadn’t wanted to resort to this but she couldn’t think of anything else to do at the moment. The device she had just used was given to her by some men in black that she had the pleasure of befriending in another universe where anomalies as strange as her were more readily accepted. Once someone was exposed to the pen’s flash, the user had seconds to alter their memories through simple verbal suggestion.

 

“I was never at the crime scene last night and you will forget all instances of me in your memories.” With that said, she burst out of the room and stumbled into the nearest restroom to change out of her hospital clothes. After putting on her old school uniform, the blonde surreptitiously left the building, disappearing into the sea of civilians outside. 

 

Serenity was in too much of a rush to notice that their was one person in the room who hadn’t been affected by the hypnosis. Steel and seagreen eyes were the first to blink, waiting for the flash-inducing headache to ebb away. When the room’s normal colors returned to his eyes, he discovered that the girl was gone. “Where’s the girl?!” He asked in alarm. 

 

Midoriya looked at him, perplexed. “What girl?” 

 

Now it was Todoroki looking at Midoriya as if his hair turned blue. “The girl from last night! She was just right in front of us!”

 

Iida was the one to answer this time. “There wasn’t a girl with us last night.”

 

The nurse in the room turned to look at him. “Ah sweetie, maybe you should rest up a bit more.” Todoroki wasn’t listening anymore. He pushed past the police chief and ran into the halls, his eyes in search of a golden bunned head, but there was no sight of her. 

 

\--

 

During the rest of stay at the hospital, he had tried to talk to Midoriya and Iida about the mysterious girl again. But the more he tried to recall the memory of her, the less he could remember. It was like there was a gaping hole in his memory. He could recall the metallic scent of blood in the air, the hard slam his body made as it slammed into the pavement, and the blood-curdling fear he felt as Stain’s bloodlust crashed into him. But he couldn’t remember any girl who was at the scene. 

 

If there was no one else at the scene other than the heroes and his classmate, then why had he been so sure that there was a girl with them in the hospital room? He tried to sift through his memories but it felt like sand slipping through his fingers. 

 

But something in his gut told him that she was real. There was no way he had dreamed up those crystalline blue eyes. Todoroki didn’t speak a word about her afterwards and reverted back to his usual pensive self. Soon after, he was released from the hospital and finished the rest of his internship with Endeavor for the rest of the week. 

 

\--

 

During the same time, Serenity did all she could to learn about the world she had just unceremoniously been dumped into by the Silver Imperium Crystal. There had to be a reason why the crystal had sent her here of all places. When she holed herself up in a library, momentarily channeling Sailor Mercury for an ounce of the genius’s brain power and determination, she finally found the answer to the question. She almost didn’t believe it herself at first, but after reading the fact in multiple history and biological textbook, it was an undeniable truth. 

 

In this universe, a mutation in the human genome caused the development of superhuman powers, which came to be known as “quirks.” Eventually, other people in the world began to develop some kind of special ability. Scientists theorized that the spread of powers was akin to that of a virus. In the current age, 90% of the world population possessed a quirk. Since quirks origins lie in the genetic code, quirks were often inherited through blood and often manifested in children at a young age. These special abilities would go as far as affecting the holder’s outer appearance. Well, that certainly explained the dog person she had first seen when she awoke and the multiple alien-like people she had seen throughout the city. Serenity had tried her hardest not to openly stare at the snake-haired librarian with mint-tinted skin. 

 

Serenity thought back to the night of her first appearance in this quirk-filled world. Why had those boys looked at her as if she had grown two heads. Perhaps they were astounded about her keeping up with the beast. Or perhaps they were surprised about her use of multiple powers? Or in their case, “quirks.” Maybe it was just her hair. 

 

The blonde dove her nose back into the books. Heroes seemed to take on a different meaning in this world. Unlike her own world where she fought under an alias in the dead of the night, since so many of the population held quirks, a system was created to register them. People could even go as far as study to become a government-paid and sanctioned defender of the public. A hero who was paid a salary? Man, Serenity wished there had been something like that in her world. Balancing school and dealing demon vigilante justice at night would have been a bit better if she had some extra cash in her wallet to buy more desserts. She inwardly laughed at the thought. 

 

She had ended another intense research session at the library and stepped outside into the city streets when a scene on a television caught her eyes. From the captions, she discerned that it was a replay of some sort of athletic event. Familiar red and white hair parted at the middle pulled a soft gasp out of the Lunar goddess as her attention was now rapt on the screen. The boy she had seen on the first night here was battling in an arena with other opponents with quirks. But they all paled in comparison to him. Serenity almost fell back when she had seen that he generated an ice barrier so large, it outgrew the colosseum, reaching for the heavens above. “Ultra High School 1st Year Prodigy” the headlines had read. 

 

With her curiosity piqued now more than ever, she went into a computer cafe and delved into more research about this Ultra academy. It wasn’t that hard to find a litany of information about the school as it was the best hero-training academy in the world. Students went there to study and train under renowned heroes in the field. As she read more about all the graduates’ heroic achievements, her admiration for the school skyrocketed. A starry-eyed look casted into the bunned girl’s gaze. What an awesome place to attend!

 

An idea struck her head and she almost fell out of her seat, astonished by her own cleverness. She should attend this school! It would definitely show her how to hone her powers. She hadn’t found a mentor like the Avatar since she had left his world, so she should seize this opportunity that was so nicely laid out in front of her! A wicked giggle fell from her lips before she could halt it. 

 

\--

 

The sun bounced off the blonde’s locks, making her hair shine gold. Whistling a cheerful tune, Serenity skipped down the street leading up the U.A. High School. After spending the rest of the week forging airtight documents for her transfer to the acclaimed academy, Serenity Tsukino, new student of Class 1-A was ready to see the fruits of her labor. When her cute and stylish U.A. uniform had arrived in the mail, she almost fainted from excitement. 

 

Reaching the gates of the school, she noticed a huge group of adults crowding the entrance with microphones and cameras jutting out in all directions. When she tried to politely excuse herself to get through, they immediately pounced on her like hyenas on a hapless gazelle. Were these people reporters? What were they doing hounding high school students on their way to get an education? She huffed in indignation but was immediately swallowed in by the mass of journalists. Microphones were shoved into her face from all angles as questions tumbled out of everyone’s mouth like an avalanche. She tried to push her way through the crowd but all that could get through was her arm. The rest of her body was stuck within the herd of news reporters as her hand desperately reached out for purchase. 

 

Warm fingers wrapped around her soft hand and within a flash, she was no longer being suffocated in the unbearable crowd. She landed on top of someone firm and muscular and somehow simultaneously warm and cold. When she lifted her head to get a view of her savior, her hard head connected painfully with his chin. “Owiiiee,” she whined. What a great start to her first day of school. 

 

With her eyes still shut from the pain, she said, “I’m so sorry. I’m known for having a very hard head. My friend says I could crack open walnuts if I wanted to.” Serenity was trying to lighten up the mood after such an embarrassing encounter with this mysterious person. When she finally opened her eyes, shocked turquoise and steel eyes stared back at her. 

 

Time seemed to stop at that exact moment for the pair on the ground. Neither could hear the sudden burst of activity from the journalists as cameras began flashing left and right to get pictures of the duo. A million and one questions flooded both students’ minds as an invisible chain wrapped around the two, preventing their muscles from even twitching. They were paralyzed, stuck to each other like magnets.

 

The sound of the morning bell was the only thing striking enough to shock the two out of their stupor. The moon princess in hiding shot up and ran through the doors of the school, leaving Todoroki’s presence as quickly as she had stumbled into it. Finally realizing that his own attendance was at stake, he hurriedly rushed to his class as well, trying to shake himself out of his daze. The girl who he had spent days convincing himself was only a dream literally just landed right on top of him!

 

The moment his eyes connected with the blue orbs that had been plaguing his dreams since that night, all the missing memories came back to him. This blonde girl been there at the scene! She had deftly fought the Nomu that night with multiple quirks. The mysterious girl had used some kind of memory-erasing flash to make the others forget as well. For some reason, it just hadn’t erased all of his memories. What on earth was happening?

 

\--

Serenity ran as fast as her feet could take her, her heart desperate to jump out of her chest and not climb back in. She expected to see Todoroki Shouto eventually, but not immediately after she had put one foot past the school gates. She forced herself to slow down and walk at a pace expected of a normal student walking in a hallway. The blonde stopped shortly in front of a door with the words “Principle Nezu” engraved on the nameplate. She steeled herself and knocked. 

 

The door slid open but no one was in front of her. Was it automatic? A small voice came from below, “down here.” Serenity used every ounce of self-control she had in order to not leap two feet in the air in shock. Why were talking animals still so much a surprise to her? The pint-sized principal gave the new student a disarming, welcoming smile and gestured her into the room. As she looked at him, her mind swirled wondering what kind of human or animal he was. He looked like an amalgamation of a white bear, dog, and mouse in an elegant suit.

 

One of his paws came to his face and in an exaggeratedly tone, he said, “ah! Is there something on my face? Is it my scar?” 

 

Serenity blushed, a wave of embarrassment crashed over her at her blatant rudeness. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.”

 

“Haha,” he lightly joked, “I’m just messing with you. I know it’s rare to see animals with intelligence quirk.” 

 

Once she sat down and they exchanged introductions, Principal Nezu started, “To be honest, Serenity, we usually don’t accept transfer students, especially this late in the year. But after carefully reviewing your application, U.A. would be missing out if we didn’t welcome you on board.” The blonde girl smiled sheepishly, a bit embarrassed about the compliment. Of course she had fib on much of her application in regards to her background, but told somewhat of the truth in other areas. Under her powers, she listed “elemental,” claiming she had an affinity for most natural elements. She sincerely wanted to learn how to control her elemental powers more in order to better serve herself and others on her journey. 

 

The head of the school examined her as if he were dissecting her every molecule. She inwardly squirmed, wondering if she had given herself away. But as quickly as the calculating look came, it was replaced by a beaming smile and for a second, Serenity couldn’t help but gush about how cute the small man or animal was. “Well, welcome to your first day as a U.A. student! You’ve been assigned to Class 1-A! My assistant will take you to the class. You’ll receive a tour of the school from one of the students there. Good luck, Serenity!” 

 

A pretty, demure woman stepped through the door and ushered the nervous Serenity to her class. After saying a soft goodbye, the assistant left Serenity to stand alone to face her new fate. She lifted her hand and knocked her knuckles against the door, holding a breath as she did so. It had been so long since she had been in a school setting. Could she even pretend to be a normal high school student anymore? Well as normal as a superpower wielding student could be in this world.

 

A wavy black-haired men with dry eyes looked up from his class notes at the knock on the door. “Ah, that must be the new transfer student.” That’s good, he wouldn’t have to go over the details of the upcoming exam twice. Not realizing how shellshocking the bomb of information he had dropped onto the class, he didn’t even give them a chance to react when he called through the door for the new student to come in. Serenity let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding, squared her shoulders, and walk through the door with confidence, lying to her nerves that they didn’t exist. Her blues burned with determination as her two pigtails trailed behind her knees. 

 

“You can go ahead and introduce yourself,” said Aizawa-sensei in a tired voice. The day hadn’t even started and he was already imagining cocooning himself in his sleeping bag. 

 

“Hello, my name is Tsukino Serenity,” she gave a slight bow to the class, “nice to meet you.” When she lifted her head to gauge the reaction of the class, she wasn’t surprised to be met with twenty shocked expressions. Well, there was one muted blonde boy who was scowling at her, as if she offended him with her mere existence. Two boys, one bespectacled and the other freckles, looked at her with a mix of astonishment and confusion. Her mind recalled that they were the two from the alley and the hospital. Some of the other boys lost the strength to keep their mouths closed as their jaws were on the floor at the sight of Serenity. The girls were all staring at her with curiosity. But one face stood out among the crowd. 

 

White and red hair parted to reveal electric steel and turquoise eyes focused on Serenity with astonishment. Once again, a magnetizing pull appeared between them and the blonde had to try very hard not to engage in another staring contest with this boy who appeared in front of her time and time again. 

 

Aizawa pushed down a small yawn and looked around the class. “There’s an empty seat in front of Todoroki.” He gestured to the only vacant spot in front of the boy she just decided to try to avoid for as long as she could. Did the god of trickery have a firsthand say in handling all of her embarrassing moments? If he did, she hope he was getting a good laugh out of this. Serenity meandered through the seats, hyperaware of all the students’ eyes on her. But their stares were nothing compared to the one boring into the back of her head as she sat in front of Todoroki Shouto. Her heart threatened to shoot out of her chest. 

 

A thought struck her. The boy behind her kept on looking at her with a sign of recognition. Was it possible that he had remembered her? That memory pen was full proof though! It’s never failed her before. But when she thought back to his stirring different colored eyes, a theory formed in her mind. Perhaps heterochromia negated the effect of the pen. She remembered learning in an anatomy class long ago that different colored eyes absorbed light different. Crud. If her theory was right, then this boy posed the biggest threat to her plans. The blonde girl sat motionless in her seat, wondering if it were possible for the people around her to hear how fast her heart was beating. 

 

She was ripped out of her thoughts when the word “examination” entered her ears. How did she forget that being a student meant taking those dreaded tests again? She much rather battle a thousand eyed monster than have to suffer through exams again. 

 

Surprisingly, after the teacher finished discussing the upcoming tests and taught a couple of lessons about minimizing civilian casualties, he curled up in a sleeping bag in the floor and zipped it all the way so no one could see an inch of the black haired man. Serenity began chewing her nails, a nervous habit she picked up over her travels. Did it technically matter what grades she got in this world? It wasn’t like she was trying to get into college here. But she worked so hard to get into the school, it would be disappointing to fail out within a week of entering. She stopped when she overheard that one of the girls was offering a tutoring session at her house. 

 

The girl had her coal-colored hair in a high ponytail and spoke with a ladylike voice. “What would you all need to go over?”

 

Several voices answered. “Hero law!” “ _ Math, _ ” a voice said with disgust. “Quirk biology.”

 

Serenity slight chimed in. “Is it alright if I join in as well?” Several pairs of eyes turned to look at her and if the new student hadn’t wanted a hole to swallow her up before, she definitely did now. A few seconds of silence passed before several of the students said, “of course! Of course!” 

 

A bouncy brunette that had been sitting in front of her in class came next Serenity. “Hi! My name is Urahara Ochako. You can call me Ochako-Chan! So you have troubles with studying as well? I thought you were some kind of super cool stoic genius student since you were accepted in the middle of the year!” The blonde sweat dropped. Maybe she had killed off too many nerves if they got that air from her. 

 

Her nervousness abated at the welcoming faces around her. In a sunny voice, she said, “oh no. I think my body works faster than my brain when it comes down to it.”

 

A scarlet spiky-haired boy punched his fist into the air. “I know what you mean. You know what they say, ‘brawn over brains!’” A girl who reminded Serenity of a frog replied, “that’s not what they say, Kirishima-kun.” The small group all laughed and the anxious air around the new student dissipated altogether. 

 

When the laughter settled down, Serenity thanked the stars she decided to come here, if only for this moment. It was nice being in a classroom setting and sharing laughter like this with her classmates. For a second, the time traveler felt what it was like to be a normal teenager again. 

 

The tall bespectacled boy she just learned was Iida approached her. “Hello, Tsukino-san. I am the Class 1-A’s president. Pleased to meet you. I can give you a tour of U.A. during our next break, if you’d like.”

 

Serenity gave him a bright smile in return and Iida grew a bit flustered receiving such a dazzling response. “Yes! That would be wonderful! Thank you.”

 

His mind jolted a bit, trying to recall a memory that seemed reluctant to be unearthed. “Tsukino-san, this is a bit odd, but have we met before?”

 

The blonde momentarily froze, all her mental systems going in panic mode, but she plastered on another bright smile and played the same old ditzy blonde character. “That can’t be! I just moved to this city!” Iida accepted the answer without question and said nodded in response. 

 

“So Serenity-chan, I’m dying to know. What’s your quirk?” A pink girl with antenna jutting out of her hair asked, voice dripping with curiosity. 

 

“I, um, can control elements.” Several eyebrows shot up. “Which ones?” inquired the freckled boy she had learned to be name Deku-kun. 

 

She held her hand up and counted on her fingers as she listed it. “As far as I know fire--“ 

 

A hand slammed on her desk, silencing her. Everyone’s tensed as Bakugo glowered at the sitting girl with a scowling expression. “You must be hot stuff transferring in the middle of the year. Why don’t you prove it on the arena? Or are you too chicken?”

 

Serenity’s face transformed from one of shock to indignation. Before all her battles and adventures, the blonde didn’t peg herself as being a confrontational person. But after everything she’s been through, the one thing she, at the very least, had to stand up for was  **_herself_ ** . If it was a challenge he wanted, a challenge he would get. 

 

“If there’s a chicken in this room, it’s the one nesting in your hair.” Some of the other students roared at such an awesome comeback but the death glare Bakugo threw behind him shut them up real quick. 

 

“Meet me at lunch in the courtyard, newbie.” 

 

Hearing his declaration, the red headed Kirishima joked, “Oi, Bakugo, is this your version of a date?” Before he could say anything else said boy punched him in the head. Bakugo inwardly cursed, his knuckles crying in pain as his barehanded attack met with Kirishima’s rough skin. The sandy blonde with a permanent scowl turned around and briskly exited the classroom. 

 

When the door slammed shut, the students swarmed around Serenity. They were scrambling over each other to get their words out. 

 

“Tsukino-san, you shouldn’t fight Bakugo. He’s one of the strongest in the class!”

 

“She should totally fight him! I’m still mad he got first place in the sports festival.”

 

“Bakugo looks like he has more brawn than brain, but he’s a naturally talented fighter!”

 

She put her hands up, trying to calm the crowd while maintaining a disarming expression to hide the excitement clawing at her skin. “It’s alright. I wanna see what he’s made of. And plus,” she continued, an unknown confidence filled her voice, “you guys haven’t seen what  _ I’m _ made of.” Some of her classmates balked at such a bold statement. 

 

Todoroki Shouto watched silently as the events before him unfolded. What was this mysterious girl up to?

 

\--

The two challengers donned the blue with white striped uniform that the students had worn during the sports festival. The duo were standing at opposing sides on drawn out arena roughly half the size of the arena seen at the colosseum. The rules were simple. The first one to step out of bounds would lose. Or the first one to surrender. But she doubted either of them would resort to that. All of their classmates were standing at the edge of field, excitedly anticipating the battle between Bakugo and the new student. Seems word of their challenge had gotten around the school as several dozen unfamiliar faces stood amongst the crowd as well. 

 

Serenity’s inside churned. She was hoping this event would be a bit more under the radar so the teachers wouldn’t notice. If the fight didn’t end before an instructor came, they were both doomed. The sensible side of the blonde nudged her mind, pointing out how risky taking on this challenge was. But the brash, prideful side of her quickly silenced the nudging feeling. 

 

As the two surveyed each other from opposing sides of the arena, the blonde thought back to what she read of his profile when she hacked into the school’s files. As the winner of the sports festival, she was immediately intrigued to what kind of power he had. Bakugo could create explosions from the sweat excreted from his palms. It sounded simple enough, but from watching his performance during the festival, his power was almost inconceivable. This boy was literally walking hand grenade that could replenish itself over and over again.

 

“Come on, blondie, are we gonna start this or what?”

 

She scrunched her eyebrows together in incredulity, “ _ you’re _ blonde _ ,  _ too, you know.” A wave of snickers passed through the crowd.

 

That ticked him off. “Shut up and fight me!” He yelled as he kicked off the ground. Using small explosions to propel himself across the field, he charged at Serenity at full force. ‘Wow there’s not one part about this guy that’s subtle,’ thought the golden blonde. 

 

As she watched him launched himself at her like a missile, she pulled out a water bottled from her pocket and took a swig. Many of the students’ mouths dropped, flabbergasted at her daring nonchalance in the face of the battle thirsty Bakugo. With just two meters before the feisty blonde could come into contact with Serenity, she threw the water bottle in Bakugo’s direction. Although a bit confused, the explosive male wasn’t going to be stopped by a stupid water bottle. But before he could even process it, the water bottle exploded a couple inches away from him, the blast momentarily stopping him out due to pure shock. His face felt the mist of the water explosion, but within a split second, his face felt dry as the water droplet let his face and beaded up and collected into a small orb of water between him and the new girl. 

 

HIs eyes bulged in astonishment. He clearly had heard the transfer student said she could control fire! But thinking back to it, she had said she could control the  _ elements _ . Plural. Was she like Todoroki? Controlling two quirks? If so, she must control fire and water. Before he could even think to jump back and widen the gap between them, the water orb straightened into a whip with the ponytailed girl holding the other end. Her smirk was the last thing he saw before he was unceremoniously flung to the side of the arena. 

 

_ SHIT _ ! He vastly underestimated her. Bakugo cursed the mistake he made before even stepping into the battlefield. Just as the students watched him come dangerously close the edge of the boundary, thinking that the match would be over before it could even begin, Bakugo used his still free hands to target the water whip with a small explosion. It effectively broke the water molecules, allowing himself to escape her liquid hold of him. With his other hand, he created a large enough explosion to change the direction of his body, so he wouldn’t go pass the boundary. 

 

Still in the air, he angled his head to look at the location where had been standing to find it empty. Like a ghost, her voice came from behind his ears and chilled him to the core. “You should always keep your eyes on your opponent, Bakugo-kun.” Her flame-powered kick hit his side, and once again, sent him flying to the ground like a comet. His body smacked the earth like a pancake. As she gravity pulled Serenity’s own body towards the ground, she poised herself to land another kick in his ribs. 

 

Bakugo let out an angry roar rivaling that of a raging lion. Before her attack could connect with the irate sandy blonde, he rose and forcefully grabbed her ankles, spinning her round and round. Her hair swirled around her, creating a golden halo around the two. Serenity momentarily thanked the gods she hadn’t made the poor decision of fighting in her sailor uniform. After two rotations, he let her go, allowing inertia to fling her body across the field. She wasn’t out of his sight for long. He instantaneously came at her like a predator giving chase to its prey. He charged up his one fist and landed a powerful explosive punch, launching the momentarily dazed blonde even faster towards the edge of the field. 

 

Serenity let out a curse of her own. This boy was doing her the pleasure of giving it his all, so she should return the courtesy. Air curled around her palms, twisting around her fingers like rings. Similar to Bakugo, she stopped herself from exiting the ring. Instead of an explosion however, her palms and bottom of her feet slammed against a wall of air as she called up her third elemental power. She landed gracefully on the arena as dozens of eyes fully focused on her, incredulous. But the only stare she returned was that of the stunned Bakugo. 

 

“How the hell did you do that?!” He yelled across the field, voicing the question that everyone had in their minds. 

 

“You know, Bakugo. I underestimated you. I was a fool to think I could defeat you with just two elements.” She narrowed her eyes dangerously. Her usual air of sunniness completely replaced by one of a warrior. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

 

With her shoulders squared, she placed her left foot in front of her and drew her hands into fists, effectively positioning herself in a battle stance. Her left foot lifted and came down with a resounding stomp and even Bakugo could feel the vibrations across the field. Her fists opened up and she drew her opened palms to the sky as if she were raising the dead out of the ground. Suddenly, a tower grew beneath Bakugo’s feet, lifting him up a thirty feet into the air. Not giving him a chance to even blink, she moved her palms left and right, slapping the air. Boulders spanning an arms width launched from the ground with only one target: Bakugo. His booming cry cut through the air and he hit the onslaught of boulders, breaking them down to small chunks of rocks that rained down from the air. As the audience watched in utter amazement at Serenity’s otherworldly display of power, the mindful warrior kept a thin wall of air up around the field to prevent the debris from hitting the students, all the while keeping her attention solely on Bakugo. 

 

Todoroki and the other students stood shell shocked as they watched the battle unfold. They hadn’t known what to expect when the new transfer student accepted the challenge of the top student in class 1-A. Based on their first impression of her, she appeared dainty and soft, like a fairy who lived between flower petals. Now everyone’s impressions was replaced with one of a skilled and ruthless warrior. Her attacks still retained the beauty and grace that she naturally exuded though. The Ultra Academy students were in complete awe as she manipulated the natural elements in ways they had never seen before. It was as if she were dancing along with the air, water, and fire, not simply just controlling them. 

 

From his position in the air, Bakugo created multiple, small explosions centering around his palm. He began to propel himself in a circular motion, spiraling towards his target. “HOWITZER’S IMPACT!!” His cry exploded through the air. Volatile crimson eyes connected cool crystalline blues as the scene around them fell to utter chaos with explosions and rocks littering the air. 

 

When the gap between them was only five feet apart, Serenity threw her hands in front of her as if to halt his charge with her palms alone. Two shapeless forms of blue shot by the sides of his face. His confusion grew as his arms came together behind his back as his wrists connected forcefully. Something wet was encompassing both his hands like gloves, effectively incapacitating them. Before he could excrete more sweat to blow the offending water off of his palms, his explosive hands felt very, very cold. His hands were frozen, sweat and all and now, he was utterly helpless in the face of the new transfer student as she immobilized his quirk. 

 

His spiral tornado stopped short like a space bound rocket losing access to its fuel tank, sputtering weakly as it fell back down to the earth’s atmosphere. Although he no longer could complete his attack, the momentum he had gained before still had him charging at the ground. With his hands bound, he used his torso to twist and mentally prepared for his back’s painful impact with the ground. But it never came. Instead a cushion of air absorbed his fall and he opened his eyes to see the wide expanse of the blue sky. He was levitating like Ochako had used her Quirk to touch him at the last second. The cushion of air below him dissolved and he landed unceremoniously on the ground, blinking his stupor away. 

 

As the dust settled, he turned to see the white line of the boundary. He had landed a couple of inches outside the ring, effectively losing the match. His hand’s iced imprisonment came undone and two small orbs of water slipped from under him and flew over to Serenity’s side, transforming from its original inorganic shape into two smooth ice bracelets on each wrist. He hadn’t even noticed that she had transformed the water from the bottle into those pieces of jewelry. Even if the defeated blonde had noticed the odd adornments that hadn’t been there before, his stupid male brain would have immediately dismissed it as useless girly jewelry. 

 

As the extent of her battle prowess and intelligence slowly descended on him, Bakugo realized that he was doomed from the beginning.  _ What the hell was this girl?! _ That was  _ four _ quirks she could control: water, fire, air, and earth. She could even go as far as controlling other forms of water, i.e. ice and even figured his quirk’s weakness within minutes of fighting him. Even the half-and-half idiot couldn’t do that despite being able to call up a colossal barrier of ice. 

 

The crowd around the two watched the scene before them, dumbfounded at how quickly the champion of the U.A. sports festival was completely and utterly defeated by the new student. Ignoring those around him, he pushed himself on his elbows and watched Serenity’s figure coming closer to him. Her cool, calm eyes fell upon him. “You have a lot of power, Bakugo, and your attacks kept me on my feet. But do you know what’s the one thing you lack,” she paused. For once in his life, Bakugo stayed silent. Her cerulean eyes narrowed hard like a battleworn soldier. “Experience.”

 

Serenity blinked and suddenly, the cold air around her dissolved and her sunshine personality returned to her, her innate light brightening up her person. She smiled warmly and stretched out a hand to the fallen Bakugo. “You’re gonna be a great hero one day, Bakugo-kun.” His eyes widened at the unexpected compliment. But with Bakugo being who he was, he ‘tched’ and slapped the blonde’s hand away. Serenity, however, didn’t taken any offense, expecting as much. 

 

Just as he got up, a large, shadowy figure fell from the sky.  _ Shit _ . Bakugo turned around to be faced with his worst fear: an angry All Might. The blonde pair was paralyzed on the spot as their classmates scattered like cockroaches in light. 

 

Serenity’s knees locked in place as a wave of utter fear crashed into her body. The enormous figure before was a hundred times more intimidating than the weird birdbrained monster she faced when she first came here. This man had the air of a fallen god. As if the almighty Zeus had come down from Mount Olympus to live among the mortals. The raw power rippled across his muscles like waves as his daunting blue eyes bore into the two troublemakers. 

 

This was without a doubt, All Might. It was impossible to not know about him even though she hadn’t even been in this world for a week yet. As she was researching the world, his name came up time and time again. Every time she walked down the streets, there wasn’t one street corner without his name and face plastered on magazines, billboards, and televisions. This man was a walking legend. And he appeared very,  _ very _ mad. If the crystal was waiting for a moment to pull her out of this world, this was a good time. 

 

“What are you two doing?” His voice came down upon them like a heavy hammer. “Umm...we were training.” Serenity gulped at her boldface lie. His spine-chilling aura dissipated in a second, and he lifted his hand to place it behind the back of his head. “Oh really? I appreciate your gusto but you two should save the training for after school so you don’t disrupt other students’ education.”

 

All Might blinked and now he was assessing Serenity, as if looking at her for the first time. “Ah! You’re the new student, right? Tsukino Serenity?” She gave him a silent nod, not having the nerve to say anything else. WIth a booming laugh, he extended his hand to shake hers, “Welcome to U.A.! I hope you’ll find your time here enjoyable and worthwhile!” His hands easily dwarfed her much smaller one. 

 

He examined the two’s dirty uniforms and battered faces. “Looks like you two really did a number on each other. Let’s get you two to Recovery Girl!” 

 

‘Wow. It was like the only punctuation All Might had in him was an exclamation mark,’ mentally remarked Serenity.

 

As All Might ushered the two inside the school and towards the nurse’s office, several figures in the teacher’s lounge watched wordlessly. Aizawa-sensei was the first one to break the silence. “How did you find this girl, Nezu?” The mouse-like Principal smiled and said, “oh. She just happened to come down from the sky.” Although confused by the cryptic reply, no one said anything. The teachers put their blind faith behind the principal no matter how odd he was sometimes. If the principal trusted this girl, then they would not question it. 

 

\--

The duo spent the rest of lunch in the nurse’s office being chewed out by Recovery Girl. “Geez! How many hotheaded students does Class 1-A have?! This is getting ridiculous! Can I not go a day without healing another one of you brash kids’ injuries?!” After suffering ten non-stop minutes of the irate nurse scolding, a soft knock came from the other side of the door. The small, old nurse stomped over to door, annoyed that her lecture was interrupted. Her eyes softened when she saw the nervous group of students that greeted her. Ochako, Deku, Iida, Tsuyu, and Kirishima stood at the door with the brunette and redhead each holding a lunch tray. 

 

“D-delivery!” Ochako yelled into the room. The tense air inside the nurse’s room broke at the bouncy girl’s adorable proclamation. Serenity let out a soft giggle, her eyes lit with amusement. Recovery Girl stepped aside, allowing the students to funnel into the room. Serenity’s eyes widened a fraction when she saw Todoroki’s figure come into the door, his presence previously hidden by the large group. They made made eye contact with each other for a hard second before she broke away from his intoxicating gaze, unnerved. 

 

Ochako and Kirishima went to Serenity and Bakugo’s bedside handed the tray of food to them respectively. “We were worried you guys were hungry after that spectacle of a match,” came Ochako’s sweet voice. 

 

“You guys still have a little time before lunch ends. I don’t think All Might will take it well if you missed his class after the stunt you two pulled,” the bespectacled Iida advised. 

 

The blonde card her fingers in her hair, growing embarrassed. “I guess we both went a little overboard.” 

 

“A little?!” yelled Kirishima in disbelief, “the entire courtyard looks like an earthquake tore through it!” 

 

“Tsukino-san, how is it that you’re able to control four quirks?” came Deku’s inquisitive voice. “Yea that was fricking awesome!” echoed the brash redhead. 

 

It was Tsuyu, the frog-like girl who spoke this time. “Guys, we should let them eat.” The two boys shrank back, abashed at their outbursts. Kirishima stayed by Bakugo’s bedside, lightheartedly teasing him about his defeat but nonetheless praising him for the moves he pulled off during the match. Serenity ate wordlessly, opting to simply listen to the group of classmates talking around her animatedly, discussing how deftly she had fought with her quirks. The only one who wasn’t joining in the conversation was the white-and-red haired boy, who kept his eyes on the blonde all the while. The two blonde students finished their lunch and walked with the rest of the group back to class to finish the rest of the school day without another incident. 


	3. The Practical Exam

Serenity Tsukino let a loud sigh escape her as she stepped into her bathtub filled to the brim with hot water. The hot water soothed her aching muscles and for a moment, all thoughts in her mind stopped, her senses only focused on the feel of her body being encompassed by the water. She carded her slender fingers through her long golden locks. It’s been awhile since she could afford this type of luxury. More often than not, she traveled to a world where accommodations like this was either a luxury or hadn’t been invented yet. She had slept on the ground most days when she had traveled with the Avatar. The experience simultaneously made her more resilient and appreciative of water and sewage systems, something she never thought she would have to acknowledge. 

 

Serenity rented an apartment in the city, which was a fifteen commute to U.A. It was a bit pricey, but that wasn’t much of an issue with the enchanted credit card she had. The blonde had the luck of possessing the credit card that gave her limitless funds along with a small pouch that created the exact amount of money in whatever currency she needed at any time. The spacetime traveler stepped out of the bath and dried herself. She looked out to the city below. After sleeping under the starry night sky for so long, it was odd the see the city landscape now. It was as if the sea of light she had seen in the celestial sky fell down to earth. 

 

She thought to the practical exam scheduled for tomorrow. The written portion would take place next week, which was fortunate for her since she needed a lot more time to study the history and systems of the world. It’d be a bit troubling if her history or biology scores were too low. It would definitely give away her status as an outsider. Serenity wondered what the practical portion of the exam would be like. Truth be told, she wasn’t as worried for the practical as she was for the written. She had heard it might involve teams. If that were true, there was one person she wanted to avoid at all cost: Todoroki Shoto. 

 

There was no doubt that the boy had remembered her from the alleyway incident. She would catch his electric steel and turquoise gaze staring at her from time to time although he would avert his sight each time. The blonde definitely felt his eyes boring into the back of her skull during class. But she never said anything. To say something meant that to place herself in the defensive. So she continued to play the slightly abnormal sunny blonde with four quirks so she could hide her secret of being the  _ really _ abnormal blonde with the powers to jump through the universe. She was surprised that he hadn’t said anything yet—to a teacher or to his friends. Either way, Serenity surmised that it was either him or her to break this charade they were playing. 

 

Her thoughts came back to his eyes, to their magnetic pull. If she could afford the truth, she would admit that her heart skipped a beat when their eyes connected. If the worlds were only made of truths, she would say that she liked his eyes on her. But even Serenity had to maintain her own lies so she could keep afloat on this journey through the vicious sea of space time. The moon princess slipped into bed, praying for a dreamless night.

\--

 

The bus ride to the designated testing area was unexpectedly rowdy, with Kirishima and Pinky leading the pep squad. She smiled but stayed quiet at the back of the bus. Serenity still wasn’t much of a morning person; she still wasn’t quite used to the school schedule yet. “Normalcy” and “routine” was difficult to add back to her vocabulary despite having done so for so long back when she thought there was only one universe. She stared back out the window, her mind lost in memories of other worlds. 

 

The vehicle lurched to a stop and a silence fell upon all students. She heard one of her classmates audibly gulp. Maybe the blonde was underestimating this test a bit. Serenity took off her blanket and a familiar sailor suit was revealed underneath. The blonde relished in the familiar way the clothes hugged her curves. Choosing to either go in her Sailor Cosmos or Eternal Sailor Moon form would have been a bit too much, she had surmised. Although Sailor Cosmos was undoubtedly her strongest form, it consumed too much energy. Plus, the silver-hair change might freak some people out. There was only one thing wrong about her Eternal form: its wings. Although it was nice to be able to fly, the wings were a bit too bulky and much too ostentatious. So she settled for the form one below her Eternal one: Super Sailor Moon. 

 

She had always liked the outfit. It was a bit more colorful than her original uniform but appeared more elegant due to the lengthening ribbons on her back. Much of her outfit stayed the same: red disks at the top, knee length magenta boots, and the brooch containing her Silver Imperium Crystal sat atop her racing heart. The only difference now were two ice gauntlets sitting atop her gloves. They were heavier and sturdier than the ones she had hastily fastened during her battle with Bakugo. Its added weight meant that she had more water to work with. She considered hanging a pouch of water to her side, but ice gauntlets made the water more readily available and every second counted. 

 

Serenity was the last one to step off the bus. When she looked up from watching her step, she saw several eyes on her and, of course, one pair belonging to Todoroki. She could have sworn his face had a blush tinting his cheeks but dismissed the thought. It was probably just the chill of the morning. Growing self-conscious, she touched her face, wondering if she still had drool or something embarrassing like that. 

 

Ochako came bounding over to the blonde’s side. “Serenity-chan! Your hero outfit is so beautiful! Did you design it yourself?” 

 

“Oh, it came with my powers,” the words slipped from lips without her knowing. 

 

“Hmm?” Ochako’s eyebrows shot up in confusion. 

 

“I mean, yes. I designed it myself,” she corrected lamely. 

 

Tsuyu stepped up next to her. “We never asked. What’s your hero name?”

 

Her voice grow wistful and her smile was tinged with somberness although she tried her best to hide it. “Sailor Moon.” Ochako and Tsuyu tested the word on their lips and the blonde felt the tears well up in her eyes. It had been so long since she had heard her hero name from people she considered friends. A tear betrayed her and slid down her cheek. The two girls immediately started fretting over the teary blonde. “What’s wrong, Serenity-chan?” 

 

She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and lightly slapped her face with both palms, surprising the pair. “Oh it’s just nerves.” Their still worried faces were wiped away by Serenity’s infectious warm smile. 

 

“Come on! We got an exam to beat up!” The blonde merrily said and dragged the two to the front of the group to face the teachers. 

 

All the students felt a flurry of emotions when they heard that they would be going up against their own teachers. Nine pairs and one group of three would face each teacher in a match of fight or flight. They had two options during the test: to fight or somehow catch the teacher off guard long enough to place a handcuff on them or flee and pass the escape gate. As long as one person passed the gate, the team would pass, although each individual’s grades would differ depending on their own performance. 

 

Serenity held her breath as students were paired up and their opposing teacher announced. “Tsukino Serenity,” the blonde bit her bottom lip, “Yaoyorozu Momo.” She let out an audible sigh of relief. “And Todoroki Shouto.” At the sound of his name, her heart dropped faster than a cannonball. “You three will face Eraserhead. Since there will be three of you, Aizawa-sensei will not be wearing the weighted handicaps.” Their black-haired teacher smirked. “Don’t feel too bad. Those weights wouldn’t have helped you that much.”

 

Why was it  _ always  _ Todoroki? She was completely fine with working with Yaoyorozu. She had attended one of the study sessions the kind heiress had offered and the blonde was immediately taken with her bouncy, yet slightly oblivious personality. Todoroki, on the other hand… How was she supposed to work with someone who undoubtedly put no trust in her? She didn’t blame his suspicion. She, too, would be reasonably wary of a mysterious transfer student who held unexplainable powers and went around erasing everyone’s memories.

 

They all filed into the entrance of the observation building. Serenity, Yaoyorozu, and Todoroki were shown to private meeting room. The spiky-haired girl stopped in front of the two before the three could enter the room. She looked pensive. With a soft voice, she said, “If it’s alright with you two, I’d like to clear up my mind a bit.” Her voice had a nervous quality to it. Serenity wondered if there was something more than the exam that was making her anxious. She wanted to offer her help but it seemed that the girl needed her space right now. The two watched their black-haired teammate leave without a word.

 

That left the blonde with a brooding half-and-half male teen and the  _ last  _ place she wanted to be was alone with him. Neither her mind and heart could take it. She sweatdropped, “I think I’ll join Deku-kun in the monitoring room to watch the first match to brainstorm ideas.” It was partly the truth. Todoroki didn’t even look as her as he gave a soft “hmph” in acquiesce. Serenity practically ran down the hall, eager to widen the gap between the two. 

 

\--

 

Tsuyu and Fumikage’s battle with Ectoplasm was a close one. Serenity was surprised to learn how adept Tsuyu was. On top of having high levels of critical thinking, agility, power, and cooperativeness, she was willing to go above and beyond in order to fulfill their objective. The blonde’s stomach churned at the thought of Tsuyu using her frog quirk to safekeep the large, steel handcuffs without even her teammate knowing. Her classmates sure were amazing. When the test ended in a successful capture, a computerized voice sounded from the speakers: “Tsuyu Asui and Fumikage Tokoyami: PASS! Tsukino Serenity, Todoroki Shouto, and Yaoyorozu Momo, you have fifteen minutes to head to the Civilian Neighborhood Training Facility.”

 

Said blonde gulped, her anxiety building in her gut. Midoriya and Ochako gave her a thumbs up as she left the monitoring room, forcing one foot in front of another. 

 

When the bell signaling the test had begun, the three students were in a shaded alleyway. The scene around them was one of a typical neighborhood in Japan. She could practically see regular school children running along the sidewalk, chasing cats along the stone walls. 

 

Switching to battle mode, she ignored the unspoken complicated relationship between her and Todoroki and brainstormed intently with said boy and Yaoyorozu. “If one of us gets captured or separated, the rest should just continue forward to the goal,” Todoroki’s low voice whispered in the alleyway. The idea didn’t sit quite right within Serenity; she grimaced at the thought of leaving a comrade behind, but said nothing. Even the best of heroes couldn’t save everyone. She had personal experience with that truth. 

 

“Yaoyorozu-san, is there anything you would like to add?” the boy asked, looking in the girl’s direction. Her eyes lacked the confidence Serenity had usually seen in them. “No. Nothing.”

 

“Tsukino-san,” the fire and ice hero said in his baritone voice and Serenity’s heart lurched at the sound of her name coming from his lips. It was the first time he had ever directly addressed her since they had first seen each other. “Watch out for Eraser Head’s quirk. The moment he lays eyes on us, we will no longer be able to use our powers until he blinks.” She gave him a quick nod, keeping her true thoughts unspoken. She wondered if their ninja-like teacher’s ability would work on her because what her powers technically weren’t quirks. But if they had all witness her using her power even after he had for sure activated his quirk, then she would risk exposing herself. 

 

“Okay, let’s head out. Yaoyorozu-san, remember to keep making things with your quirk and tell us the second you can’t anymore.” Said girl gave him a voiceless nod. With no other remarks, the trio started down the road, wary of all their surroundings. 

 

Todoroki ran in front as Serenity trailed behind with the spiky-haired girl. The blonde looked at her teammate from her peripheral vision. Her face still held its anxious composure. It seemed like she had something heavy on her mind. The girl was still creating little matryoshka dolls so her quirk was still working, so it wasn’t as if Aizawa-sensei was close. 

 

As they were about to round the corner, the sailor soldier tried to talk to her teammate once more. “Hey, Yaoyo--” A curse from Todoroki cut her inquiry short. Just as he had said it, he created a wall of ice, blocking him and his two teammates from turning onto the street he was in. Serenity pounded her fist on the block of ice, calling Todoroki’s name. She thought to break down the ice with her powers, but she saw a murky black figure belonging to Aizawa-sensei. The blonde turned around to try and find her remaining teammate but to no avail. How the heck did she lose her?! Serenity wanted to yell for her but that would mean giving her position away. 

 

Through Todoroki’s opaque ice, she could barely interpret the scene in front of her. One moment Eraser Head and her teammate were facing each other on the street, and the next, Todoroki’s figure was hanging off the electric lines. The last thing he said to the captured boy was, “you should have talked over the plan more with your teammates.”

 

She noticed Aizawa-sensei’s figure moving towards her position and slid back against the wall, her visage hidden from her teacher’s view. ‘Guess he’s going after Yaoyorozu,’ surmised the blonde, ‘he probably thinks we ran away together.’

 

Using the opportunity, she thought to go rescue Todoroki. Truth be told, she couldn’t fathom the thought of leaving her teammate behind, even if it were just an exam. Since the only way to get to Todoroki was to get through the ice barrier he had created, she chose to melt the ice instead of jump over it lest she catch the black-haired teacher’s attention. She called a small flame to both her hands. Steam erupted from the melting ice but it wasn’t melting fast enough. It seemed that the white-and-redhead’s ice was strong enough to even have a higher melting point. Todoroki Shouto was full of surprises.

 

After a couple minutes of her flames barely making a dent through the ice, she threw caution to the wind and made a finger gun centered at her forehead. Hopefully, Eraser Head was far enough to not hear her attack. Calling on the power of Mars, she yelled “Burning Mandala!” Chunks of ice flew everywhere. 

 

A feminine cry from behind caught Serenity’s attention and she turned around to see her red-suited teammate’s advancing figure. Aizawa-sensei was a couple of yards behind her, running along the electric lines. That man really liked his vantage points, didn’t he?

 

Confused but nevertheless happy to see the team reunited, she happily cried Yaoyorozu’s name. The two began running past the wreckage of Todoroki’s ice wall and stopped abruptly in front of the said boy’s tied up figure. 

 

“I’m dragging you two down,” the spiky-haired girl said without warning. Serenity’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about, Yaoyorozu-chan?” 

 

“Both Todoroki-san and I were accepted into U.A. based on recommendations, but compared to him, my progress has been miniscule. And you, Tsukino-san, you just appeared last week and you’ve already taken U.A. by storm. I can’t--” Tears streamed down her round cheeks. “I can’t do anything right.” 

 

Surprisingly, it was Todoroki who spoke up this time. “Yaoyorozu! You had two votes for class president, remember? I voted for you because I thought you’d be a good leader!” He paused, his eyes becoming intense, “I’m sorry! I should have talked to you two if my plan was okay! Yaoyorozu, you have a plan, right?!”

 

Her meek, unsure voice replied, “but if your plan didn’t work, how could mine possibly work?”

 

Serenity was stunned at the tearful girl’s confession. It seemed that she was had been bottling up these feeling for awhile now. A wave of sympathy crashed into the blonde sailor soldier. Suddenly, she flashed to all the times she had fallen on her butt during her early days as Sailor Moon. She remembered feeling like she didn’t deserve the title of leader of the Sailor Scout due to her obvious ineptitude in combat. The feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and weakness had swelled up so much in her chest that she thought it would explode. But she kept fighting. She never gave up because giving up meant that she would lose her friends. And she got better. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t be standing here right now. 

 

Cerulean eyes growing resolute, she gave the emotionally vulnerable girl a soft gaze before grabbing her by the sides of her head and knocking their foreheads painfully together. Both girls drew back, clutching their now tender foreheads. “Owwwww…” echoed both girls. Todoroki winced as the phantom injury from the headbutt Serenity had given him when she first entered U.A. ached. That girl sure had a hard head. 

 

The blonde was the first to regain herself. Still rubbing her forehead, she said, “Yaoyorozu-chan. you are one of the smartest, kindest, and most beautiful girls I’ve ever met in all my travels.” The aforementioned girl blushed at such a blatant and direct comment. Her unconfident self wanted to dismiss the compliment, to peg it as an obligatory remark trying to make her feel better about herself, but there was such an intense sincerity in Serenity’s voice that she couldn’t do so. 

 

The moon warrior continued, “you shouldn’t compare yourself to Todoroki-kun or me. You shouldn’t compare yourself to anybody for the matter. Their progress doesn’t matter because the only progress that matters is  _ yours _ . Each of us are on our own path and it doesn’t matter how fast we along as long as we keep moving forward. Yaoyorozu-chan, if you compare yourself to the you from a year ago, would you say the present you has become stronger? Smarter? Or would you say she’s the same? Don’t use test scores or evaluations because that’s someone else’s opinion. Do  _ you  _ think you’ve improved?”

 

“Y-yes,” she had replied meekly in response to Serenity’s unexpected passionate speech. “Good,” the Sailor Scout nodded, smiling gently at her. “Then that’s all that matters.”

 

“Now, let’s get Todoroki down,” Serenity said as she casted a look up to the captured boy’s stunned expression. He was shocked at the speech that just exploded out of the blonde. Where had those words come from? Who was this girl posing as a U.A. student? He never knew what to expect out of her. One moment she showed otherworldly combat skills, deftly navigating between four quirks as she battled against one of the best fighter he knew and  _ won _ . The next, she acted as a better teammate than he was to a girl she had known a little over a week. His complete and utter amazement at the mysterious blonde ceased when he saw Eraser Head’s figure closing in on them. “He’s here!” 

 

Serenity commanded Yaoyorozu to cut the rope before she sucked in a huge gulp of air and blew away the spiked traps Aizawa-sensei left under Todoroki. He didn’t have enough time to catch himself but just as he was a couple inches off the ground, his body was picked up by a large gust that cushioned his fall. Todoroki quickly burned the ropes binding him and thanked the girls for freeing him. 

 

Unexpectedly, Yaoyorozu threw a handful of matryoshka dolls at their dried-eyed teacher. “Close your eyes and run!” A blinding flash caused the man to stop his pursuit and clutch his eyes in pain. Not hesitating, the three sprinted, widening the distance between them and their pursuer. 

 

“A flash grenade?! That’s genius!” Serenity beamed at Yaoyoruzu whose heart swelled at the compliment.

 

Yaoyorozu spoke across her shoulder as she ran with her teammates, “I believe Aizawa-sensei’s quirk has weakened due to his injuries.” Confusion flitted across Serenity’s face but she said nothing; this wasn’t the time or place to be caught up. “Todoroki-san, the moment he blinks, can you try making your great ice barrier?” An affirmative noise came from the half-ice-half-fire wielder. 

 

That moment came just as she finished speaking. Todoroki felt the ice freezing his arm and within a breath, he created a solid, spiky wall of ice like it was child’s play. Serenity let out a soft ‘whoa’ of amazement for having finally been able to witness the colossal frozen barricade she had first seen on the televised replay of the sports festival. It was rare to find someone so young who wielded this much power so effortlessly. 

 

The ice blockade gave the group some more time to plan. Yaoyorozu had an idea that was better than simply fleeing Eraser Head and finding the gate in desperation. With much more confidence in her voice, she laid out her strategy to her team. “Tsukino-san, can you distract Aizawa-sensei while Todoroki-san and I man the catapult?” The object on the catapult was a rope similar to what their teacher used. “You can count on me!” Serenity affirmed.

 

The blonde stuck out her hand with palm facing the ground. Understanding the gesture, Todoroki placed his hand on top of hers and a spark flitted across the surface of both the teen’s skin. They looked towards Yaoyorozu and she placed her hand on the pair, albeit a bit hesitant as she had never participated in such a morale booster before. “Let’s do this!” Serenity yelled cheerfully and they all threw their hands up.

 

In the next moment, they all scrambled into positions. All three ran under cloaks to prevent their teacher’s quirk from activating. If he couldn’t see them, he couldn’t erase their quirks. Eraser Head took the bait and came at them, intent on capturing the trio with his rope. Unbeknownst to him, Yaoyorozu had been hiding below a dummy. “Go! Tsukino-san!”   
  


Serenity had already briskly escaped from under the cloak and slid right by Aizawa-sensei as his attention was fully focused on Yaoyorozu and Todoroki. By the time their ninja-esque hero noticed her, she was already behind him with her fingers on her tiara. In that second, Eraser Head narrowed his eyes and activated his quirk but to no avail. The blonde sailor scout yelled “Moon Twilight Flash!” and yet again the man was blinded by another sudden burst of white light. His eyes were practically shriveled up raisins at this point. As he groaned in pain, he felt the heat of flames surrounding him followed by the immediate sensation of being bound by something. 

 

Completely immobilized, he awaited for his body’s hard impact with the pavement, but felt himself softly land due to a strong gust of air underneath. When his headache finally receded, he saw his three pupils staring down at him. Serenity pulled the pair of test-issued handcuffs, seemingly out of nowhere, and handed it to Yaoyorozu. “I think we can agree that you should do the honors,” she said, her voice filled with jubilation. The ponytailed girl replied with a beaming smile that rivaled the blonde’s own and took the object. She promptly placed the cuffs around Aizawa-sensei’s wrist, careful not to make it too tight. 

 

Serenity moved to high five the girl who was having a bit of difficulty hiding her tears. The test was over and they had passed with each of them learning a new lesson of what it meant to be a hero. As the two girls celebrated, the two men focused his attention on the new transfer student. The same thought crossed both their minds: Aizawa had certainly used his quirk on her, hadn’t he? 

 

\---

Aizawa slammed the doors to Principal Nezu’s waiting room wide open, not caring for his rude entrance. “Principal, who is the transfer student? I am 100% certain that I activated my quirk when I looked at her, yet she still managed to use her powers.” The mouse-and-dog chimera placed his cup of tea pensively on its plate on the table, clearly not disturbed by the interruption. In his typical calm and aloof manner he said, “Why don’t you close the door and sit down? I’ll tell you a story.”

 

_ The only sensation Nezu was capable of feeling anymore was the cold, steel operation table underneath and the pain inflicted upon him by his human captors. He hung perpendicular to the floor, chains keeping his sore body in place.  _

 

_ He had made a foolish attempt of making contact with humans and this was his reward: endless, painful experimentation by creatures who only wanted to satisfy their curiosity. Nezu was an extremely rare case of an animal possessing a quirk and while he was smarter than all the humans in this room combined, he couldn’t for the life of him figure a way out of these chains.  _

 

_ A large tender wound ran over his right eye. He had made the mistake of resisting when they had tried to dissect his optic nerve. His screams of agony was the only sound to fill the room. They wouldn’t even let him die. Every time he was on the verge, they send a healer in to prevent his escape from this miserable existence. They left his eye wound unhealed to served as a reminder of his the consequence for his disobedience.  _

 

_ He resorted to the last option his super intelligent mind could think of: prayer. Now, Nezu didn’t truly know whether any of the gods spoken about in any culture’s text were true. It was an intellectual journey he had hoped to be able to complete one day. But now, with his hands and feet bound by too-tight restrains and his mind fried from countless electric shocks, prayer was all he had left.  _

 

_ For the first time since his encagement, his screams weren’t the ones echoing through the room. Instead, it was his captors’ yells of surprise. “How did you get in here?!” “Who are you?” Multiple questions shot through the air like bullets, but the intruder said nothing. Nezu opened his one good eye to happen upon the most beautiful being he had seen in all of his life.  _

 

_ A mysterious woman stood amidst the shocked scientist in the room. She looked around, unfazed by the guns directed at her and the cold, lifeless environment she found herself in. “Ah it seems like I landed in the wrong location in this world.” _

 

_ The goddess standing before him had silver, iridescent hair and was dressed in pearl white, diaphanous robes. Two buns of hair were pinned at each side of her head as two rivers of silver flowed down from them. Translucent fairy wings sprouted from her back and sparkled more prettily than the finest diamond, splintering light into a million different rays. Despite her lavish clothing and jewelry, the most striking thing about her was her crystalline blue eyes. They stared down into Nezu’s own coal orb but the animal wanted to turn his gaze away. It was if he were gazing at the human embodiment of the sun.  _

 

_ “My dear,” she said, addressing him with the most warmth he’s ever felt in his life, “it seems you are in the wrong place as well. Would you like me to take you away from here?” He used the last ounce of his strength to weakly nod at her.  _

 

_ “Experiment #2695 isn’t going anywhere!” boomed a commanding voice behind her. He held a gun to the back of her head, but she continued to act as if she and Nezu were the only two occupants in the room. She lifted her hand to her chest and suddenly, the mouse-like creature noticed a small wand with a crescent moon on top. The beautiful woman closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly. Within a moment, a blinding, warm light emanated from the wand and encompassed everyone in the room. Once the light receded, neither Nezu or the stranger resided in the room. Chaos erupted within the building but the furry creature was no longer there to witness it. Instead, he was basking in a soothing heat that warmed him to his core.  _

 

_ Nezu felt the soft arms of the goddess around him and for the first time in a long time, he felt safe. Her comforting warmth soothed his physical aches and offered reprieve to the scars on his soul. When he finally opened his eye, the sight before him stole the breath from his lungs. It was the Earth. The sun’s rays curved around the horizon, kissing the mountain ranges of Japan. He momentarily doubted if this were real. Maybe this was his mind tricking him, giving him a peaceful hallucination as he faced his final moments in his short life. But everything felt and looked too real. Regardless of how much of a genius he was, his mind could never craft up something as awe-inspiring as this.  _

 

_ Looking around him, he observed the alabaster sands of the moon’s landscape. Despite the lack of atmosphere, he was still able to breathe and bathe in the warmth of the celestial being embracing him. The soothing, musical voice of the woman holding him in her arms spoke, “what’s your name?” _

 

_ “Nezu.” It was the first time he had reclaimed his identity in years.  _

 

_ “I’m sorry for what they did to you,” she said, her voice growing somber. “You didn’t deserve that. No living creature deserved that.” He said nothing, his heart too full of pain to answer.  _

 

_ “What do you wish to do now?” she asked patiently. An idea struck her. “I can take you with me to my world. I ensure you that no harm will come to you in my kingdom as long as I breathe.” _

 

_ His eyes widened in astonishment. “Are you saying you’re not from  _ this _ world?” It would actually make a lot of sense. Such an extraordinary being like her didn’t belong in this world.  _

 

_ “Yes, I come from another universe. In my world, I am the ruler of the beautiful Moon Kingdom. It seems there is no equivalent on the moon here.” _

 

_ The multiverse theory hit him like a train. His scientific mind was running a hundred miles per second, invigorated by the theory being proved true by the mere appearance of this goddess before him. He learned the theory when he was a mere child; figuring out wormholes and string theory was as easy as devising a strategy for tic-tac-toe against a ten-year old.  _

 

_ A smile grew on her face, noticing his curious gaze urging her to continued, “my crystal allows me to travel across the universes, but only for short periods of time. At first, it was just glances, sending apparitions over to see what other worlds were like. I’ve managed to increase my time to a couple of minutes, but eventually my crystal pulls me away back to my own world or to the next one. It’s odd, this crystal of mine. Sometimes I don’t know who wields who.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I had read in the stars that a great evil will fall upon my kingdom. I travel to find another one like mine, to perhaps learn how to prevent the peril predicted in the stars, but I have yet found one.” _

 

_ The crystal upon her wand pulsed. “Ah, that’s the warning signal. It’s time for me to go.” She turned to look at him once more, “so would you like to come with me?” _

 

_ “I never knew how beautiful this world was until now. I don’t think I should give up on it so soon.” _

 

_ She smiled warmly, her light stronger than the sun. “What a wonderful answer.” She dipped her head to plant a soft kiss on Nezu’s forehead. _

 

_ A bright light flashed once more and suddenly, they were on the shores of Japan, looking at the same sunrise they had seen on the moon mere seconds ago. His hand abruptly lifted to touch the right side of his face where his wound had originally ached. His once blinded eye was working despite the large scar that ran over it. The queen said nothing at the miracle she had just performed in the blink of an eye.  _

 

_ She rose to her full height, letting Nezu’s paws softly touch the ground. He looked up at her standing figure, marveling at the way the morning light danced around the beautiful deity. Just as she lifted her arm to open up a door to her next destination, the freed lab animal called to her, “please! Before you go, what is your name?” _

 

_ A divine smile fell upon her lips as she casted her gaze upon him, “my name is Queen Serenity. It was a pleasure meeting you, Nezu.” And with that, she disappeared into the morning sun. _

 

When the principal finished his story, Aizawa sat there speechless. A wave of guilt, sadness, and sympathy jammed his vocal chords as he stared into the wistful faraway eyes of the principal who he had sometimes thought of more human than animal. 

 

“I’m sorry” were the first words out of the black-haired man’s dry lips. Nezu’s eyes finally focused on him when those words reached his ears. “You have nothing to apologize for. Your hand was not holding the scalpel.” He said the last sentence a bit dryly. 

 

“But I--” the Eraser quirk holder tried to continue, feeling an inexplicable need to take blame for what fellow humans did to Nezu. 

 

“Don’t try to assume responsibility for the entire human race now,” the principal laughed with a mix of sarcasm and jest. Eraser Head shut his lips, seeing that the subject would be pursued no further. 

 

The principle rested his chin on his hands, a speculative look falling upon his face once more. “She looks just like her mother,” the nostalgia in his tone was undeniable. 

 

“So you’re saying that she’s not from this world. My Eraser ability didn’t work simply because her powers aren’t quirks?” said the hero teacher, trying to process the earth shattering revelation.

 

The principal nodded in affirmation. 

 

“What is she doing here?” Aizawa inquired seriously. 

 

“Haven’t you looked into her eyes? She obviously has a mission.” Principal Nezu answered plainly. The teacher thought to his student’s eyes, seeing a restless determination and an overflowing wisdom well beyond her years. 

 

“What if she’s here to endanger the lives of the students here?” Aizawa asked seriously as his top and utmost priority resurfaced. 

 

“I believe with all my heart that she is not that kind of person.” The black-haired hero widened his eyes in shock. For an intelligence quirk holder whose faith lied on logic and rationality, it was shell shocking to hear Nezu swear upon his heart. 

  
  



	4. Transcending Bonds

Serenity placed a hand over her heart-shaped brooch and closed her eyes, willing for her Super Sailor Moon form to come undone. A flurry of lights and ribbon swam around her and she was back in her grey U.A. uniform. She let out a heavy sigh to temporarily give reprieve to her mind that had been replaying the day’s events. She had passed her test but couldn’t allay the nagging feeling that she had misstepped. 

 

It was only a millisecond, but part of her knew that she had made eye contact with Aizawa-sensei. She should have pretended to lose her powers but she was caught up in the thrill of the moment, her desire to help her classmates succeed trumping her own priorities. She placed her school shoes in her respective locker and lightly banged her head against the locker door. Why was she like this?

 

Well, the school day had ended and she still hadn’t been approached by anyone. She suspected that her blackclad teacher would have talked to someone, most likely the principal since he was the one who personally admitted her. Serenity thought back to her first meeting with the principal. It was a bit odd, to be honest. He had looked at her as if he knew her, which was impossible considering the fact that it was her first time stepping into this universe. She sighed, shaking the thoughts out of her head. Her incessant contemplation was creating more questions than answers. 

 

The blonde exited the outlandish gates of the school, admiring the setting sun’s rays as she made her way back home. A prickling sensation crawled up her spine and her mind started in alertness. There was no mistake; someone was following her. Her body stiffened but she forced her limbs to relax. The blonde continued along the path but took several turns, completely going off the path of her usual way home. Serenity did that for another fifteen anxious minutes but still, the sensation didn’t go away. This stalker was definitely determined. He was probably not some creepy old geezer chasing her tail then; she’d dealt with one too many of those. 

 

The next turn she took was into an alleyway that stopped at a dead end. Her heart soared as she jumped at an angle and kicked off the opposing building to parkour her way to the top. She hoped that by the time she got to the roof, her pursuer would end up confused as he entered the alley, finding nobody. She would then jumped back down and blocked the stranger’s exit and confront him about his less than subtle pursuit of her. 

 

Although she waited for a minute or two for the stalker to enter the back alley, none came, so she surmised he had given up. When she turned around, the visage that greeted her had her heart jump out of her own throat. Todoroki Shouto was standing on the rooftop, a serious expression on his usual aloof face. 

 

‘How in Selene’s name did he--’ her thought was interrupted by the fire and ice hero. 

 

“Who are you?” 

 

Taken aback by the blunt question, she tried to play it off, knowing how foolish it’d be even as she did so, “what are you talking about, Todoroki-kun? I’m Tsukino Serenity, your classmate.” Her voice was injected with an overbearing sunniness, but she knew at this point it didn’t matter what she would say. This confrontation was long coming and she knew it the first time she looked into those unique heterochromia eyes on the first day of class. 

 

“Aizawa-sensei looked at you just as you came behind him, but you were still able to complete your attack,” his baritone voice raised goosebumps on her skin. Damn it. She should have asked for another one of Yaoyorozu’s flash grenade. Serenity absolutely  _ loved  _ it when one of her mistakes came back to bite her in the butt. 

 

“Todoroki-kun, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I used my flash attack just before he could use his quirk on me. How else would I have been able to complete the attack in the first place? You probably didn’t see things correctly since it was in the heat of the battle,” she cooly replied. Claim the truth and bundle it up as something else. Make them doubt themselves and believe in the lie you produce. A lesson in lies that Serenity never thought she would use. 

 

“You just show up in an alley one night and defeat a monster that even All Might had trouble with like it was nothing. Then you go and erase everyone’s memory, making it seem that I was the strange one for imagining a girl who held multiple quirks. You even went as far appearing in front of me yet again, this time transferring into the top hero school in the nation in the middle of the school year. And last but not least you’re able to wield four elemental quirks, five if I count the little light show during the exam. Am I missing anything?”

 

‘You’re just missing the part about me being a space time traveler who came from another world,” the girl sarcastically thought, knowing that this truth would have made all her appearance in Todoroki’s life even more unbelievable. 

 

Serenity stood speechless amid Todoroki’s impassioned tirade; this was the most the typical aloof and pensive boy had ever spoken and it surprised them both. Thoughts ran and crashed into each other, landing into a useless heap in the blonde’s mind. There was no lie convincing enough to get her out of this and they both knew it. 

 

As the blonde was still not answering him, Todoroki folded his arms upon his chest, his biceps flexing as he did so. With his shoulders squared, his stature became much more intimidating, no longer looking like a high school teenager. Step by step, he closed the distance between Serenity and him. As he did so, Serenity stepped backwards til the back of her knees hit the walled edge of the roof. His cold quirk emerged from under his foot, bridging the space between them in a path of ice. In seconds her feet were frozen in place. 

 

Only a couple of inches separate them now and Serenity had to crane her neck to look into Todoroki’s stern, angular face. With so little space between them, the blonde wondered if her heart could be beating so fast for a different reason. 

 

A small object traveling at bullet speed in their direction glinted in the corner of Serenity’s eyes. Her body moved before her mind did. Her hand reached out to shove Todoroki out of the way. Once she retracted her hands from doing so, she held her forearms up in front of her while fisting her hands. The skillful blonde liquidated her ice gauntlets to fortify into an ice shield to freeze the knife inches away from her person. Her eyes narrowed to the weapon that had been moments away from slicing her carotid artery. Her ice melted and returned to their original bracelet form on her arms and the knife dropped with a metal clatter. 

 

So the presence she felt before  _ wasn’t _ Todoroki. Or at the very least, it wasn’t  _ just _ him. Someone else with much deadlier intentions. Before either students could let a word, two figures appeared at the corner of the roof. One was a tall spiky black haired man whose most distinctive feature were purple, leathery patches of skin on his face and neck. Serenity inwardly grimaced at what looked like surgical staples running along his skin as if they held his body together. The petite girl on the other side had cat-like yellow eyes and wore a sailor suit uniform, most likely in high school if it wasn’t just a costume, and had messy buns on the sides of her head. His accomplice reminded Serenity of herself if it wasn’t for the crazed, perverse expression she unabashedly wore on her face. 

 

“Did we interrupt your date, you cute little lovebirds?” the younger girl squealed teasingly. 

 

Despite the failed assassination attempt they both narrowly avoided, Serenity and Todoroki still founded it within themselves to blush at the implication. 

 

“Lo-lovebirds?” stuttered the embarrassed moon maiden. The teenage boy couldn’t get anything out as all he could feel was the heat lighting up his face. Both the U.A. students’ faces matched the scarlet half of Todoroki’s hair. 

 

“Ugh. Can’t we get this over with? We just need one of them, right?” The male said with a tired disdain in his voice. He was addressing his partner as if the two teenagers weren’t even there.

 

“Well, I had wanted the blondie,” she said as she put a finger to her chin as if she were casually looking at a menu item. “But what will we do with the boy?”

 

“Can’t we just kill him? I’m sure the Nomus need something to eat.” Both Serenity and Todoroki blanched at such a morbid suggestion.

 

“Awwwww,” the petite blonde whined, “but he’s  _ so _ cute. It’d be a shame if we had to get rid of him.” The sailor soldier’s face contorted with a mixture of shock and horror. Who were these people who were casually deciding people’s fate based on such superficial details?

 

Todoroki didn’t hear the girl’s comment. The moment the name “Nomu” hit his ears, the image of the dark monstrosity that both All Might and Tsukino had faced was conjured into his mind. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. 

 

“Are you guys with the League of Villains?” he asked, despite knowing the answer. 

 

“Ooh. Cute  _ and _ smart. You’re the whole package, aren’t you. I’m so jealous. You got such a great catch for a boyfriend,” the girl with the cat-eyed gaze remarked as she turned to look at Serenity. The blonde U.A. student didn’t think it was possible to flush even more, but her body still surprised her sometimes. 

 

Yet again ignoring the girl, Todoroki now turned an accusing glare towards Serenity. “Are you with them? Is that who you are? A spy from the League of Villains posing as a U.A. student?” 

 

The spacetime traveler balked at such a ridiculous accusation. Was he blind? That knife was aimed for her, too! 

 

“Spy?! League of Villains?! What are you talking about?! This is the first time I’ve ever heard of them!” the moon princess yelled as she tried to defend herself against the fire and ice quirk holder’s harsh glare. But a part of her knew that he wasn’t listening anymore. 

 

It was the man the girl had called Dabi who spoke this time, for once addressing the two teens. “Oh? There seems to be trouble in paradise,” he said with mocking disdain. 

 

This time Serenity ignored the insinuation that they were a couple and switched into battle mode. In a no nonsense tone, she said, “what do you guys want?” 

 

“Hostages don’t get to ask questions,” the ash blonde said as she kicked off the roof and charged at her golden blonde counterpart. Serenity thought her opponent was going in barehanded and aiming at her torso, but instead she pulled a feint and went for the knife by her feet. The elemental wielder inwardly cursed her mistake of not throwing the knife away when she had the chance. Using her lower position to her advantage, the strange seemingly mentally unstable girl aimed her knife at her stomach. The U.A. student twisted her upper body out of the way and blanched at the thought that the knife had been mere centimeters away from getting lodged in her stomach. 

 

Okay. What kind of world had a high school girl who willingly affiliated herself with an organization called the League of Villains and ran around stabbing people as if it were her hobby?! This girl was smiling like she was petting the cutest cat as she made several continuous attempts to impale Serenity with her small knife. The sailor soldier briefly thought back to how the girl had outright branded her a hostage, even before capturing her. The future Queen of Crystal Tokyo narrowed her eyes dangerously. No one treated her as if she were just a pawn in some twisted game. 

 

Lighting her feet on fire, she broke free of Todoroki’s ice hold and jumped up, flipping over her enemy. In the moment she was in the air, the girl narrowed her pupils into slits and flashed her canines, making her seem even more cat-like. “A fire-and-ice quirk holder just like your boyfriend over there? No wonder you guys make such a perfect couple.” Serenity brushed off the suggestion. They could have a perfectly good fight without involving her love life. Not letting the girl rattle her anymore, she brought her hands up over her head with palms opened downwards and slapped the air below. A powerful wall of air slammed onto the girl below. Serenity’s attack was the equivalent of swatting a fly on the floor. The feline-esque girl lifted herself off the ground with great difficulty, her face twisted in a mixture of pain and shock. Looked like she was finally considering Serenity as a formidable opponent. 

 

As the girls began their fight, the boys were already interlocked in a battle of flames. “You’re the kid who placed second in the sports festival right? Endeavor’s son? I’ve read up on you,” the spiky-haired man remarked as he conjured several dark-colored blazes and hurled them at Todoroki. He smirked. “How’s your mother?”

 

The normally calm and collected boy felt his left side ignite, furious beyond reason that this stranger spoke of his mother with such derision. Who the hell were these people? The organization seemed to have overreaching intel if they were able to pry into his private life like this. Forgetting that they were still in a civilian area, he summoned the strongest of his inferno attack and directed it solely at the man who dared to bring his mother into this. Even before the blaze hit his target, a bored, disdainful smirk slid across Dabi’s face. “You think your flames are stronger than mine?”

 

The air grew unbearably hot, even for Todoroki. It was if he were standing near the exhaust pipes of a rocket preparing to launch. The heat made the air insufferable and the two girls had to stop their own battle to assess the men. In a high pitched voice, the crazed high school girl whined, “Dabiiiiiii! Don’t you think you’re going a bit overboard?” But her accomplice didn’t hear her as his own sick exhilaration of the prospect of flaunting his powers overcame him. Serenity’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief, sensing the strength of the power the mysterious man wielded beneath his skin. 

 

“Todoroki-kun! Watch out!!!” Serenity couldn’t stop her body from racing across the roof and throwing herself on top of her classmate in a hopeless attempt to protect him from the scorching flames. Transforming her ice gauntlets into a shield, she managed to cover both of them from the endless stream of fire, but she knew her thin ice protection wouldn’t last long in this searing heat. 

 

Using this chance to regain the fire-and-ice hero’s attention, she pleaded, trying her best to show her sincerity, “Todoroki-kun, I know you don’t have any reason to believe me, but I would  _ never _ hurt you or any of our friends.” Her crystalline blue eyes bore heavily into the boy’s shocked turquoise and steel gaze. Todoroki didn’t know what to think, but he couldn’t deny the part of him that wanted to believe her proclamation with all of his heart. He couldn’t explain it. Since he first laid his eyes on her that night in the alley, he knew there was something otherworldly about this girl. He would dare say even heavenly, as if she had fallen from the stars above. A celestial being disguised as a high school teenager. Todoroki didn’t have a chance to come to a conclusion as to what this girl was as the ice shield evaporated and there was nothing left to protect the U.A. students from the scorching blaze of the villain. 

 

In a flash, the only thing that filled his ears were Serenity’s painful cries as the fire scorched her unprotected body. Not even a villain deserved this kind of torture. Even as her body was subjected to Dabi’s unending flames, she kept her position firm to protect Todoroki. Growing enraged at the thought that his doubt had put the girl in harm’s way, he willed his ice crystals to shoot up from his palms. Before the League of Villains members could blink, a monolith structure of ice blocked the fire attack and their view of the students. It was only a fifth of what Todoroki had manifested at the sports festival, but he was still in a populated area and time was of the essence. He had to get Serenity out of here  _ now _ .

 

Somehow still awake despite the unbearable pain shooting through her body, Serenity barely managed to croak out a question to Todoroki, “Do you think you can find a place with a lot of water around here?” Gathering up the injured girl into his arms, careful of the wounds she had sustained, he rose and looked around the cityscape. They were miles away from the nearest lake. Suddenly, the sight of a water tower entered his vision. It was situated on top of an abandoned building in a more-or-less forgotten district. That’s good. He could strike two birds with one stone by also drawing the villains away from the civilian area. 

 

After several minutes of jumping rooftop to rooftop with Serenity cradled in his arms, he ended up on the roof of a dilapidated building. Remembering how the blonde had used her water quirk during her battle with Bakugo, he surmised that she needed direct access to it. He shot two large spears of ice to tear the water reservoir open. The liquid poured out of the holes and pooled on the roof. With her voice barely above a whisper, the weakened girl requested to be laid down into the water. The white-and-red haired boy hesitated, not willing to let Serenity out of his hold but acquiesced nonetheless. 

 

When he placed her in the water, he finally saw the extent of the damage caused by Dabi’s ferocious fire assault. Her left side had taken the brunt of the damage. Parts of her uniform had been burnt, exposing the skin marred by the inferno. Todoroki examined her injuries. Her shoulder, waist, and thigh had been scorched by the League of Villain’s flames. A part of him couldn’t bare to look at her like this but he forced himself to commit the image to memory to remind himself what happened when he was too weak. He clenched his jaw in anger. At this point, he was just as angry at the heinous fiend that had caused Serenity so much pain as he was with himself. 

 

Then a miracle happened. The water sliding across Serenity’s scorched skin glowed brightly as it wrapped itself around her like a liquid blanket. When the light subsided, it was if Dabi’s attack had never taken place. Her skin returned to its flawless, uninjured state. His eyes widened in wonder. There was no end to the surprises that sprung out of this mysterious girl. Her eyes slowly opened to reveal orbs the rivaled the blues of the ocean. 

 

Todoroki hastily offered a hand for the blonde to rise from the water. He placed the other hand tenderly on her back to provide more support. “Are you okay?” his baritone voice softly flowed into her ears. 

 

Despite standing on shaky legs, she replied, “Yes, I’m fine.” She was lying through her teeth and both of them knew it. Todoroki wanted to plan a different course of action, one that didn’t involve continuing the fight with the League of Villains members, but he was never given an opportunity to come up with one. Their enemies showed up uninvited at the edge of the building once more. 

 

“You really gave us a run for our money back there, Todoroki-kun!” the blonde squealed happily, unaffected by the dark mood of the scene. “Dabi actually had trouble melting your ice!”

 

“Shut up, you stupid girl,” the brooding man spat, aggravated by the girl’s lack of a filter.

 

Keeping her voice low enough for only Todoroki to hear, she said, “Todoroki-kun, do you think you can buy me some time? I have enough energy for one last big attack.”

 

The teenage male briefly wondered if it was such a good idea to bet it all on one attack, but seeing Serenity’s burning gaze, he dismissed the thought. His classmate had yet to disappoint him and she wouldn’t start now. For the first time since he’d met her, Todoroki believed wholeheartedly in this blonde beauty who had seemingly fallen from the sky. Although reluctant to part from her side, he threw caution to the wind and launched himself at the two villains. 

 

The female villain gave a twisted cat-like grin, “Aaaawww!! Are you playing the knight in shining armor protecting that princess of yours? How cute! I wish my school life was this lovey-dovey!” Todoroki said nothing as he stomped his foot, sending spikes of ice at his target to hopefully knock them off the roof, or at the very least, shut her up. With his other side, he ignited himself and shot several balls of fire at the male accomplice. He knew his flames weren’t as strong as his villainous counterpart but it could distract him. 

 

While Todoroki gave his all in fighting off two powerful opponents at once, Serenity kneeled back down on the floor to give the appearance that she had been rendered weak and powerless from Dabi’s previous assault. To some extent it was true. While her participation during the exam hadn’t been too strenuous, it had still ate away at her energy. Healing herself from Dabi’s relentless and violent flames had taken the bulk of energy reserve. The blonde was still upright through sheer willpower at this point. 

 

Under her breath, she muttered the transformation spell that she’d cried out countless times before: “Moon Prism Power Make Up!” Her metamorphosis wasn’t as showy as it usually was with its billowing ribbons of light. The universe hopper had learned on her journeys that more often than not, it was best to be discreet. Her burnt closed unwove itself and twisted into her Super Sailor Moon outfit. With her opponents adequately distracted by her classmate and impromptu battle companion for the second time that day, neither villain had noticed the glaring change in her clothes. 

 

With one hand on her knee and the other submerged in the water from the burst water reservoir, she called on the power of Neptune. With her exhausted state, she knew she only had one shot for this attack. Channeling power through her arm and into the surrounding water, she drew the water towards her palm, forming it into a ball. Eventually, she had a blue sphere twice the size of a basketball revolving cradled in her palm. It shone brightly with the energy she had infused into it. Using both of her hands to carry the ball of energy, she lifted it above her head. 

 

At the top of her lungs, Serenity shouted into the setting sky, “DEEP SUBMERGE!!!” She lowered her arms to shoot it at Dabi who was in her line of attack. By the time the man had noticed the watery blast, it was too late. The Neptunian attack doubled in size as it continued to absorb the liquid still pervading the surface of the roof. In a futile attempt to stop Serenity’s blow, Dabi summoned his strongest flames to evaporate the offending attack. His fire barely put a damper on the blast, not even managing to change its course. His last thought before the attack hit was wondering where the  _ hell _ this girl had come from. He had already looked through all the files of Class 1-A before they planned this kidnapping and she definitely was not in them. Had she come from one of the lower classes? He doubted it. Someone of this caliber would never get put there. 

 

Within the blink of an eye, Dabi’s body absorbed the full force of the Serenity debilitating blow and he crumbled at the edge of the roof. His unconscious form plunged towards the concrete, but his partner caught him by his arm. Despite her smaller constitution, she was able to pull him up, saving him from a fatal plummet. She wrapped his limp arm around her shoulders and jumped five stories downward, landing gracefully on the pavement. 

 

The fire and ice hero ran to the edge and spotted the retreating figures of the villains. The blonde girl below angled her head to make eye contact with the boy and shouted, “looks like we’ll have to continue this next time, Todoroki-kun!” The pair disappeared into the dark, dilapidated streets of the abandoned district. 

 

Although reluctant to let the villains flee, he knew his utmost priority was to get Serenity to safety. He quickly turned around to find the blonde’s standing form. As if a spell had been broken, her sailor outfit came undone to reveal her tattered U.A. uniform. Her vision grew hazy as her mind lost all control of her exhausted body. Before her unconscious body could hit the hard concrete, Todoroki rushed to her side to catch her in his arms, cradling her limp body.

 

Holding her immobile form with one arm, he somehow managed to take off his U.A. uniform jacket to place it around Serenity, hoping it would be enough to cover her exposed skin. Afterward, he put one arm under his classmate’s knees and positioned the other to support her upper body. He effortlessly carried her bridal style as he jumped across rooftops, heading back to the school. He prayed that Recovery Girl had yet to go home. 

 

When he passed the gates of U.A. and bursted through the doors of the nurses office, he inwardly let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw the familiar figures of the school’s healer and the strongest hero. 

 

Sounding more desperate than he realized he was, he yelled into the room, “Please! You have to help her! She’s hurt!” 

 

Recovery Girl immediately dropped the conversation she was having with All Might and ushered Todoroki to bring the girl over to an available bed. The white-and-red haired teenager gingerly placed Serenity’s still unconscious form onto the nurse bed. Although he was unwillingly to tear his gaze away from the girl, he forced himself to face All Might’s worried look. The two heroes stepped out of the room to give Recovery Girl the space she needed to do her work. 

 

Todoroki put on a calm facade to explain everything that had happened with the League of Villain attackers. He left out the part about his suspicions about his classmate, not willing to talk to anyone until he got the answers from the person himself. All Might’s face grew pensive, but still mostly unreadable. Once the boy finished his story, the strongest hero placed a proud hand on Todoroki’s shoulder. “You did a great job protecting your classmate.” 

 

Not willing to meet his encouraging gaze, the hot-and-cold quirk holder softly said, “but it was her who protected me.”

 

Seeing that the boy wasn’t in the state to accept compliments, All Might nodded sagely as he looked back at the door, “that’s one amazing girl in there.” Although the superhero had been taken aback by the Principal’s sudden announcement that U.A. was accepting a new student, in the hero class, no less, All Might had said nothing, trusting in Nezu’s decision. Hearing about Serenity’s most recent escapade, along with her incredible display of power in her unofficial match with Bakugo, proved to All Might that she was a powerful hero able to hold her own. 

 

Both men’s thoughts were interrupted when the old nurse opened the door. “Lord, I had thought this girl was on the brink of death by the way you just tore through the room.” Todoroki felt the blood rushing to his face, embarrassed by his uncharacteristic outburst from before. 

 

Recovery Girl let out a knowing, amused sigh, muttering softly, “youngins’ these days.”

 

She continued, “I didn’t find any major injuries on the girl. The minor burn wounds I did find are healing at an accelerated speed. If I hadn’t known any better, I would say she has a rare regeneration quirk.” Todoroki said nothing as ideas rushed into his head of what this girl could possibly be. What could possibly explain the range and extent of her powers? She seemed to be an impossible anomaly in this already strange quirk-filled world. 

 

“It’s odd,” the senior nurse pursed her lips, “I tried to leave a message for her parents but there’s nothing in her files on them. Guess this poor girl is living in this city alone.” Her thoughts ran parallel to the other two men in the room. Where did Nezu find this girl?

 

A weak groan jolted the three out of their ponderings. “Ugh...where am I?” The now conscious girl mumbled. “You’re at the nurse’s office in U.A.” Todoroki said softly as he went to the girl’s bedside. 

 

Sensing the mood between the two teens, Recovery Girl swatted All Might to gesture him out of the room. The muscular man could only let out a confused “huh?” before he was dragged out by the more conscientious nurse. 

 

Opening her eyes to look upon the sunset colored form of Todoroki, she let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you for protecting me.” 

 

Guilt settled on his face. “I’m sorry. If I hadn’t been so hesitant, you wouldn’t have gotten so injured.” His low voice was ladened with regret. 

 

She examined Todoroki’s visage, seeing that he was beating himself over the injuries that she had sustained when she made the choice to jump in front of Dabi’s attack. 

 

“Don’t blame yourself for my actions. I would have done it again if I had the chance.” The male casted a shock expression at such a self-sacrificing statement. Serenity continued, “plus, you have every right to doubt me. I know I haven’t been exactly transparent about my own identity.”

 

Todoroki held a bated breath as he prepared to ask the question that’s been occupying his mind since he first saw her. “Who are you?”

 

She broke her gaze from him, choosing to look down at her fingers twisting itself into the blanket. “I… I can’t tell you. At least not yet.” The part of her that didn’t want to reveal the truth wanted to protect herself from rejection. For some inexplicable reason, she couldn’t bear the thought of Todoroki rejecting her. She shooed such confusing thoughts away, not wanting to sift through her feelings at the moment. Serenity looked back up to meet the imploring gaze of her classmate. “But I meant what I said before. I’m not here to hurt you or anyone else.” 

 

Todoroki let out a small sigh, not the least surprised at the ambiguous answer. He could already detect a plethora of secrets bound tightly under the surface of this mysterious girl. To be fair, she had only known him for two weeks and vice versa. How could he expect her to divulge all her secrets to him? “I understand. I’ll wait til you’re ready to tell me.” The blonde widened her gaze in complete shock at the boy’s acceptance of her cryptic response. She was about to pour her heart into thanking him but a knock came at the door, interrupting the meaningful moment between the two. 

 

The nurse opened the door as she held a phone near her ear. Covering the receiver, she looked at Todoroki and said, “it’s your sister.” Said boy hurriedly pulled out his phone to view his notifications and discovered over twenty missed calls and text messages from his older sibling. “Oh shit,” he muttered under his breath. He gingerly accepted the phone from the smaller woman and prepared himself for the lashing he was about to receive from his sister when he got home. 

 

As he put his ear to the phone, a loud, angry cry tore into his eardrums. He had to widen the distance between the speaker and his ears as to not develop any hearing problems. Not wanting to show the mortifying sight of him being chewed out by his elder sister in front of Serenity, he hastily cut her off. “Sorry Nee-san. I’ll explain it when I get back.”

 

Pressing the end call button, he turned around to give Serenity a brisk goodbye to hide his embarrassment. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” he said as he practically ran out of the room. Serenity let out a soft chuckle as her eyes followed his retreating form out of the door. 

 

All Might also said his goodbyes as he felt himself reach the limits of maintaining his powered up hero state. With the two women being the sole occupants in the room, the nurse said, “You can go home after I bandage up that arm of yours. I looked at the X-rays and it seems you banged it up a bit from channeling so much energy. Sheesh, you’re just like Midoriya and Bakugo. Here I thought girls had more sense than boys.” Serenity couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the comment. 

 

“Yes, I’ve been known to go a bit overboard sometimes.” 

 

“Well, you should at least consider dialing it down a bit for that boy. I thought he was planning to burn down the place if he hadn’t found me to nurse your wounds.” 

 

Serenity felt her face turn scarlet at the obvious insinuation of the nurse’s words even though the rational side of her squashed any notions of Todoroki thinking of her as anything other than a classmate. Why was everyone teasing the idea of the obviously  _ nonexistent _ relationship between the pair? 

 

After bandaging the blonde’s arm and recommending that she not used her injured limb for twenty-four hours, the nurse sent Serenity on her merry way home. The exhausted moon princess couldn’t be more thankful when she opened her door to her bedroom and plopped into the welcoming, soft embrace of her bed. 

 

—


	5. Transcending Bonds

A continuous ring blared through the room, tearing Serenity away from her slumber. She attempted to silence the sound of the alarm, but found it too far from her reach. By the time she managed to get ahold of it, she was awake enough to read the time on the clock. All sleep was chucked out the window when she finally realized that she was late for class.  _ Really late _ . It amazed her how old habits die hard, even in another universe. She hastily brushed her teeth and shoved her random school items in her book bag. At this point, she could make it to the end of homeroom or at the very least, the beginning of first period. 

 

When she reached for her uniform, only to find scorched in several places, making it unwearable, the memories from yesterday resurfaced: the close call she had with the League of Villains members, the warmth of Todoroki’s embrace as he carried her to safety. A blush blossomed under her skin when the memory of his touch entered her traitorous mind. Once more, she dismissed such thoughts. She would never make it to school if she got stuck within her daydreams. Serenity refocused in the task at hand and scavenged her closet for the extra U.A. uniform she had the foresight to purchase. 

 

The moon princess rushed through the streets of the urban city, careful of busybody city dwellers. At one point, she had to jump over a speeding car to cross the street. The driver had honked in frustration but the blonde paid him no mind. There were more important things than a a businessman with road rage. When she finally opened the door of Class 1-A, she was unnerved to find everyone’s eyes on her. It was like the first day of school again. What happened? Was there something on her face?

 

All Might stood at the helm at the class, surprised at the student’s interruption. The hero nodded at the late student and gestured for Serenity to take her seat. He coughed to regain the class’s attention. “As I said before, U.A. advises students to be extra cautious since it seems that the League of Villains’ activity has picked up. The school has requested the city to increase the amount of hero patrol to deter further attacks. It seems the League is specifically targeting U.A. students so please try not to stay out too late and to keep away from less populated zones.”

  
As All Might finished his speech, Serenity made her way to the back of her room where her empty seat awaited her. She briefly acknowledged her seat mates, Deku and Todoroki, as she passed them to get to her desk. When All Might ended his brief, the class was given a five minute grace period before Yamada-sensei, a.k.a. Present Mic, came in to begin his English lesson. Immediately, a bunch of her classmates swarmed around her and Todoroki. 

 

Ochako encased Serenity’s hands within her own, worry etched on her face. “Serenity-chan, we just heard about your encounter with the villains! Are you okay? When you hadn’t shown up for class, we thought something terrible had happened!” So that was why the class had reacted to her late arrival like a ghost had bursted through the classroom door. 

 

The blonde student’s heart warmed at the realization that her classmates genuinely cared for her, suddenly very thankful that she had enrolled in this school. “It’s alright! I’m fine! Recovery Girl patched me up!” She waved her hands in front of her to try to dismiss their worry and to indicate that she was indeed fine. An ache snaked along her arm and she remembered the bandages that wrapped around her limb all the way to her fingertips. The small nurse’s behest to take it easy came to her mind and Serenity prayed that today would be an uneventful day. 

 

The freckled Midoriya was the next to speak, “so what happened? All Might just told us that you and Todoroki were attacked and showed us portraits of the villains but that was it.” Serenity accepted the invitation to explain in detail the battle that had occurred yesterday, hoping her story would advise her classmates to be more vigilant. These villains were not joking around. It saddened Serenity to think that her peers’ lives might be endangered so young, but she could only do her best to prepare them. She saw that Deku was dutifully writing down her every word. Todoroki had kept quiet throughout her entire explanation to the surprise of no one, opting to gaze at the blonde instead. 

 

“Man! I wish I was there to see you tagteam with Todoroki. You guys have such cool quirks!” Kirishima said as he threw a fist into the air. Serenity sweatdropped, a bit embarrassed at the unabashed compliment, but happy nonetheless. 

 

Tsuyu spoke next as her index finger rested on her chin in her usual expression of curiosity. “Wait, why were you and Todoroki-kun together?”

 

Suddenly, Present Mic’s amplified voice resounded through the classroom, causing the student’s with more sensitive hearing to clap their hands over their ears. “I know the League of Villain’s recent attack has been shellshocking, but the worst thing U.A. would want is for them to put a damper on your education. Let’s begin class, kids.” 

 

The students hurriedly shuffled to their seats, and Serenity silently thanked the teacher for saving her from having to answer Tsuyu’s question. That girl was definitely one of the most perceptive students in the class and it worried the blonde how easily she could see through people. Serenity hoped no one noticed the blush that had erupted on her face when the question had been thrown at her. Unbeknownst to the blonde, Todoroki was dealing with the same issue behind her. 

 

\---

 

As Present Mic ended his lesson on English superlatives, Serenity’s mind reeled at the confusing grammatical patterns of the Western language. With all her traveling, she was surprised she hadn’t gained a better understanding of the language, but she realized most of the phrases she had learned were slang. The blonde ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. She wasn’t even sure which era these phrases were from. The sayings could either be outdated or hadn’t even been invented yet. Whichever the case, the blonde doubted something like “it’s time to boogie!” would somehow appear on the test. 

 

While Serenity dealt with her inner turmoil caused by the most confusing language on earth, she accidentally knocked over her eraser. When she had finally noticed her eraser’s new position on the floor, she reached her bandaged fingers to pick it up. At that exact moment, Todoroki’s fingers had been reaching for her fallen eraser as well. Their fingertips touched for a brief second and Serenity foolishly reasoned that the shock that had just ran up her arm was simply from her injury. Her hand sprang back to her body, desperate to cease the tingling running through her hand.

 

Todoroki tapped her shoulder to get her attention and Serenity used all the self-control she had to not jump out of her seat. She nervously turned around to face him. 

 

“Umm, you dropped your eraser,” he said a bit awkwardly. Serenity thanked him and picked up the eraser from his palm, careful to avoid any skinship this time around.

 

His palm retreated and formed a small fist in front of his lips. He forced a small cough, trying to clear the air of awkwardness. “How are your injuries?” he said in his low voice. 

 

Serenity was surprised at the question. She hadn’t exactly known how to approach Todoroki today. This was the first time he had ever addressed her without suspicion saturating his tone. And the first time they had a conversation where the next course of action wouldn’t be running away or engaging in combat. 

 

“Oh! Umm, yes. My arm will be out of commission for awhile, but everything else is fine.” Serenity was of course lying again. Although her burn wounds had healed superficially, the pain still radiated beneath her skin like a phantom injury. Only time would tell whether or not that kind of ache would subside. Todoroki didn’t look all that much convinced by his classmate’s answer. Guess he was the type who was good at reading people, too. 

 

Trying to take the focus off of her, she mirrored the boy’s question, “What about you? How are you doing?” Serenity rotated her body clockwise so that she could face him better, leaning her elbow on the back of the chair in an attempt to look casual. 

 

“Yes, I’m fine. I only had a few minor scrapes.” A look of guilt crossed his face but he shook it off. Seeing that remaining on this topic would only elongate the awkwardness that usually fell upon the two, Serenity tried again to change the subject. 

 

“Oh! What’s your hero name, by the way? Seems I had missed the class where everyone had chosen their aliases, so I’m asking around to get caught up,” the blonde said in her typical cheery tone, masking the weeks of tension that had settled like a swamp around them. 

 

Taken aback by the inquiry, Todoroki managed to stumble out, “Umm. It’s Shouto.” 

 

The blonde tilted her head in befuddlement. “Huh? Isn’t that just your first name?” 

 

“The characters for my name means fire and ice so I thought it’d be appropriate to use it since my powers are so self-evident.” As he spoke, he wrote the characters for his name on a corner of his notebook to show his classmate. 

 

As Serenity listened avidly to the hot-and-cold quirk holder’s explanation, she marveled at how well his name had fit him. “Wow! That’s so amazing!” the teenage girl chirped as her eyes shined in sincere delight. Serenity was never good with memorizing  _ kanji _ , or Japanese characters, so sometimes the hidden significance of names were lost on her. She let his name fall from her lips, infusing it with as much admiration as she felt. “ _ Shouto _ . What a wonderful name.”

 

A flame rivaling the heat of the sun coursed through his body and forced his heart to run a marathon it never trained for. Hearing her say his name with such awe set his insides aflame, which is ironic, because his body did the complete opposite of that. Without warning, icy spikes erupted from his right side and the whole class yelped at the outburst. Midoriya was on the ground, eyeing the frozen spears warily, an inch away from being skewered by Todoroki’s quirk. Across the room, Kirishima was poised to attack with his hardened skin. Several seconds passed before the white-and-red haired boy began using his left side to melt the ice. When the silence continued to pervade, Mineta popped his head up from where he was hiding under the desk. “What’s going on?! Did the villains show up or something?!”

 

Todoroki finally found the strength to use his voice. “Sorry. I lost control for a second there.” 

 

Everyone stared at the young boy, astonished at his statement. Todoroki? Losing control?! That was as likely as Bakugo being calm. Thankfully for Todoroki, the bell had sounded, signaling the start of the next class. 

 

As Present Mic gave Todoroki’s beet red face one last glance, seeing that he was trying to avoid eye contact with the transfer student who fretted over him, a realization dawned upon him. 

 

The door opened and Aizawa stepped through, appearing apathetic as usual. The radio host placed his hand dramatically on his colleague’s shoulder while giving an enthusiastic thumbs up. 

 

Sparkles twinkled around him as he spoke, “aahh. Isn’t young love simply fantastic, Aizawa-sensei?”

 

“What the hell are you babbling on about?” Eraser Head dismissed his flashy coworker as he shoved the offending hand off of his shoulder. 

 

\----

 

Todoroki ran a hand through his snow and scarlet colored hair as he let out the biggest sigh of his life. He stepped out of the school building and into the wooded area bordering the forest training facility next to the school. The U.A. student had forewent eating with his classmates in the cafeteria today, wanting instead to be alone with his muddled thoughts. Thinking about his mishap in class today made him wish a hole would swallow him up right now. 

 

Tsukino Serenity was one of the most confounding people he’d ever met in his life. He’d daresay her peculiarity surpassed Midoriya’s. Why could he never get her out of his mind? Even after deeming that she wasn’t a threat to the school, his mind still found any and all excuses to think of her. Every time he closed his eyes, the image of her golden hair and blue eyes would plague his thoughts. Class was hard enough since every time he opened his eyes to rid himself of daydreams, her blonde head would smack his vision once more. There seemed to be no reprieve. 

 

The flame-ice hero replayed the scene that had happened over a mere hour ago. The way she had spoken his name as if it were a freshly unburied treasure still made his insides churn. Not even his family had ever said his name with such awe and appreciation before. 

 

Being on a first name basis with someone was something reserved for family members, close friends, or significant others. No one outside his immediate family had ever called him by his given name before today and now, Todoroki wondered if he should keep it like that by rethinking his hero name. If Serenity called him by his first name in the middle of a battle, Todoroki was certain he would end up adding to the chaos instead of allaying it. 

 

The thought of his classmate made Todoroki feel something he never expect to feel in his life: like a normal teenage boy. The prodigy had always been lauded by his family and peers as someone who was beyond his years. He had been forced to grow up fast since his childhood had been robbed by his bastard of a father. But simply being in the mere presence of Serenity turned him into a blundering fool like most boys his age. 

 

Rustling from one of the trees tore him out of his tangled thoughts. Perhaps it was a squirrel. When he saw a leg shoot out of the branches, he threw the thought out of his head. Whoever had gotten entangled in the branches needed some help. Always the hero, he rushed beneath the tree to see what he could do. The second he reached the base, a heavy lump fell on top of him, toppling the poor boy over. He landed unceremoniously on the ground together with the mystery person. 

 

When sea green and steel grey eyes opened to inspect what had fallen on top of him, familiar golden locks colored his vision. The sight of Serenity’s wide shocked crystal blue eyes meeting his own astonished orbs ripped all the breath left in his body. The hypnotizing pull both their gazes had on each other barricaded any words from exiting their mouths. 

 

A soft mew broke the blanket of silence that had fallen on the two. A fuzzy ball almost wormed itself out of Serenity’s arms but she managed to put a stop to its escape at the last second. 

 

Completely forgetting her position on top of her classmate, Serenity immediately started gushing about the fluffy cloud within her arms. “Look, Todoroki-kun! She has different colored eyes just like yours!” Propping himself on his elbows, he drew his head closer to observe the furball. Indeed, the cat was also a holder of the heterochromia gene. Sky blue and yellow green eyes swirled amid slit pupils. The calico cat had patches of yellow and black set upon soft, white fur. 

 

“She’s cute,” he uncharacteristically admitted and the cat meowed in response, as if accepting the compliment. A small smile pulled against the edges of his mouth and Serenity felt as if she were falling, even more so than when she had dropped from the tree mere seconds ago. 

 

Suddenly, Serenity was made aware of the hard body lying beneath her and the warmth radiating from it. The realization that she was on top of Todoroki Shouto finally dawned on her. She shot up so fast, she made herself dizzy. Fervent apologies stumbled out of the flustered blonde as she reached out a hand to help her fallen classmate up. Again, a spark shot through both of their bodies as their hands touched and Todoroki wondered how many times he could deny such a thing and blame it on static electricity.

 

As the male attempted to avoid the blonde’s magnetic gaze, his eyes fell upon a neatly wrapped lunchbox in pink with a cartoon bunny sewed into the side. “Were you having lunch?” He paused. Todoroki pushed the next words out of his mouth without meaning to. “May I join you?” 

 

Well today seemed to be full of surprises, most of which came from Todoroki. Serenity smiled brightly at him and they sat down at the trunk, opening their lunch boxes. With the smell of food wafting into the feline’s nose, the kitty decided that next to these two strange teens was the best place to be. She began pawing at the white and red haired boy’s leg to signal for the food she rightfully deserved. 

 

“So what’s her name?” asked Todoroki as he pulled a piece of his fish and gave it to the cat who happily gobbled it up. 

 

“Oh! I found her a couple of days ago. She’s so light, so I think she’s still a kitten. I’m guessing she’s a stray that stumbled on to campus.” Serenity made a small pout and Todoroki had to strike down the thought that it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. “I wanted to take her home, but my apartment has a policy against pets.” To be honest, that wasn’t why she hadn’t taken the cat home. She knew if she had gotten too attached to this cat, it would have ended badly for the both of them. The spacetime adventurer knew that it would be careless of her to bring this small companion on her perilous journeys. And if she took her home, only to abandon her in that apartment when she left, that just wouldn’t be fair to the precious kitten. 

 

A whining mewl drew her from her thoughts and Serenity looked down to find the cat pawing at her hand this time, begging for the food inside her lunchbox. She smiled sweetly in response and gave the kitten a large chunk of her chicken. 

 

Changing the subject, she asked while gesturing towards their new feline friend, “so what should we name her?” Todoroki was bewildered at the question as he hadn’t expected for her to invite him into the naming process. His father never allowed him to own a pet, dictating that loving something so worthless would make him weak. Even if his father approved of it, Todoroki would be too afraid to bring an animal home in fear that his despostic father would use it against him. 

 

As his eyes connected with the emerald and sapphire eyes of the bewitching kitten, he suggested, “how about Natsu? For the blue skies and green grass of the summer?”

 

Serenity abruptly choked on her food, her mind overloaded with memories attached to that name. Todoroki hastily gave her his drink so she could wash it down. His stomach entangled itself into knots, wondering if his suggestion had been too cheesy for its poeticness. Once Serenity regained herself, she chuckled and said, “I’m sorry. It wasn’t that your suggestion was bad. I just know a guy named Natsu. And trust me, if we named her that, she would turn into a little fireball.” She smiled fondly as if an inside joke had made way inside her head. Todoroki furrowed his brows at such an odd and cryptic response but heeded her words nonetheless. 

 

“Hmmm… I want her name to reflect her different colored eyes. Like how your name reflects your quirk,” the blonde stated. Todoroki turned his head to hide the blush dusting his face as the memory of his name on her lips replayed in his head.

 

“It’s pretty straight forward but what about Ao Midori” Serenity said. The name simply translated to blue-green. It was Todoroki who chuckled this time. “Isn’t that a bit too close to Midoriya?” he pointed out, reminding her of their freckled classmate. 

 

Serenity laughed and Todoroki likened the sound to bells softly chiming in the wind. “Yes. You’re right. We wouldn’t want to confuse ourselves.” The pair went through several more rounds of the naming process, feeding the cute kitten along the way, until they finally settled on ‘Yumi’. ‘Yumi’ was the combination of the first syllables of ‘yuki’ meaning ‘snow’ and ‘midori.’ They both thought it was an elegant name befitting of the graceful cat. 

 

Throughout the entire discussion, Todoroki inwardly marveled at how easily the conversation flowed between the two. It was rare that he talked this much, but he found it quite effortless to share his thoughts with Serenity. She had a natural charm that had people, him included, gravitate towards her. 

 

Serenity peeked at her wristwatch and squawked in surprise. “Ah! It’s almost time for class! We should get back now!” Together they gathered up their lunch and bid the cat farewell. Todoroki fought down a blush as he asked if he could join her for lunch next time. To see Yumi, of course. His classmate beamed at him and chirped at an affirmative response. The young boy’s heart felt like it had just jumped off the highest diving board.

 

“Ah. That’s right. There’s something I wanted to ask you, Todoroki-kun. Could you help me study for the test tomorrow? I have the other subjects down but I’m having a lot of trouble with history, and I’m too embarrassed to ask the others for help.” To be completely honest, she didn’t want to ask her other classmates because she didn’t know whether a question was normal or not. Todoroki already had some inkling that she was the walking definition of abnormal and he  _ had _ promised he wouldn’t ask any questions about her identity. So in the end, she figured it would be her best shot. She really didn’t want to raise any red flags if she answered the questions too absurdly.

 

“Oh. Um. Yea. We can go to my house after school.” Todoroki didn’t think Serenity’s bright smile could get any wider but he was constantly proven wrong by the blonde. With their plans made, the two returned to class without incident. It wasn’t until much later in his last class that Todoroki realized this was the first time he had invited a friend, much more a  _ girl _ , over to his house. 

 

\--

 

The school bell gonged and a herd of U.A. students gathered at the entrance to the school. The crowd dwindled in size as everyone said their goodbyes, dispersing in smaller groups. Serenity typically went to the north train station with Ochako, Tsuyu, and Midoriya, but today she declined much to the group’s surprise. 

 

“How come you’re not coming with us, Tsukino-san?” asked Midoriya. 

 

“I’m going to Todoroki-kun’s house today to study for the exam tomorrow!” she said in her usual energetic manner, not realizing how juicy of a bomb she had just dropped on the rumor mill. 

 

All three student’s brows shot up their forehead but Serenity had already bid farewell and was well on her way towards Todoroki who just ended a conversation with Sero. He turned and offered a brisk wave to acknowledge that he had caught sight of her and they both left the their schoolmates. The trio watched the retreating figure of their two classmates. 

 

“Do you think they’re...you know...” said Tsuyu, leaving the implication of her unfinished sentence hang heavy in the air. 

 

“They’re what?” inquired Ochako, without a hint of suspicion in her voice. Deku also peered at her, interested. 

 

The frog quirk hero didn’t reply, smiling to herself at her friends’ naivety. “Nothing,” she stated cooly, changing the topic of the subject to the test tomorrow. School life was so interesting, she remarked to no one but herself. 

 

\--

 

Todoroki and Serenity found themselves in a subway car at the absolute worst time possible: rush hour. Rows upon rows of overworked salary men and women, plus a myriad of students from different schools had rushed into the cart, shoving the two students left and right. Luckily, the fire and ice holder’s house was only three stops over, so they wouldn’t be stuck in this suffocating train car for too long. 

 

By the time they had reached the subway car, it had been so jam packed that Todoroki could only find a big enough space for the two of them by a single handrail. The first time the train had lurched to a stop, Serenity had almost toppled over due to the momentum, but Todoroki saved her, catching her by the waist. As he kept his hold of her to make certain she wouldn’t stumble, his hand felt like it was on fire. With a sharp intake of breath, Todoroki focused all his energy to not have his hand combust. A repeat of what happened this afternoon was the last thing anyone on this train wanted. 

 

Despite his internal meltdown, he offered his own arm as a makeshift handrail for Serenity to use. The moon princess felt her blood rising as she hesitantly grabbed onto Todoroki’s bicep. He felt his muscles unconsciously flex at her soft touch and the heat from his previously centered his hand now traveled down his arm. 

 

As Todoroki was trying to look anywhere but in Serenity’s direction, he caught sight of a man about half a meter away who was giving the blonde an odd look. He narrowed his eyes on the creepy stranger, not liking the look he was giving Serenity one bit. The U.A. male saw a hand slithering through the bodies and he didn’t have to guess about what his intentions were. Knowing that it wouldn’t look good for a U.A. student to burn a man’s hand off, regardless of the reason, he opted instead to move Serenity out of the way. 

 

Todoroki swiftly maneuvered the blond out of harm’s way by switching their positions. There was enough space between the passengers so that the couple could move towards the doors a couple of inches away. Now Todoroki shielded Serenity with his body facing hers, their breaths intermingling in the small space between them. Incidentally that meant the maiden was trapped within the cage of his arms against the subway doors. 

 

If their hearts could beat any harder, they would jump out of the respective owners’ chest and switch positions. 

 

“There was a man. He was trying to—“ but Todoroki was too flustered by their positions to come up with a coherent thought.

 

A heavy blush fell on Serenity’s face, but she miraculously found the strength to push through her embarrassment. “A-ah. Yes, I sensed it a bit earlier.” 

 

The teenage boy inwardly cursed, berating himself. Of course Serenity could sense the threat. She could have taken care of it herself within a snap. But he--

 

“Thank you, Todoroki-kun.” The words crashed into his train of thought. Serenity was a mess of nerves herself but she needed to express the warmth kindling within her heart. “I really appreciate it.” 

 

His reply of “you’re welcome” was barely above a whisper. It was getting harder to breathe by the minute, especially with his classmate so close to him. He knew if he just shifted his head a little to the right, he would get a whiff full of her vanilla scented shampoo. Dammit, now he wanted dessert. No, he wished more than nothing for this train ride to finish. But the truth that he tried to burn away in his mind was that he wanted this moment to last forever. 

 

Serenity stood paralyzed between Todoroki’s arms. The shorter girl watched in mesmerization as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in nervousness. She kept both her arms clasped to her side with palms flat against the train doors. Her hands ached for purchase. Her traitorous fingers longed to curl up in Todoroki’s shirt. Would his heartbeat be as fast as hers? But she didn’t dare to. As they said, curiosity killed the cat. Regardless, the blonde wanted nothing more than to take chance of the opportunity to greedily take in Todoroki’s heat for herself. 

 

“We are arriving at our next stop. Please be careful when you exit the right hand side.” Todoroki acted without thinking. Wanting to get as far away from the horde of people in the train, he unconsciously grabbed the blonde’s hands without a word and pulled her through the crowd. 

 

Making their way through the overcrowded station was a nightmare. People weren’t as careful about getting each other’s way as there was barely any space to dodge one another. Rush hour was simply the worst. When they finally stepped out of the station, both let out the largest sigh of relief. 

 

Serenity felt like her entire nervous system relocated to the hand that Todoroki held tightly within his grasp. If she didn’t say something soon, she knew that she would have to add ‘fainting because of hand-holding’ to her list of  _ “Most Embarrassing Moments.” _

 

“Umm… Todoroki-kun… is it alright if I take my hand back…?” her words almost didn’t reach his ears amidst the city noise. He looked at her blankly for a second before his brain finally rebooted. 

 

“Ah! I’m sorry! I hadn’t realized…” The flustered boy wished that a villain would show up and save him from this catastrophe. He would much rather fight the entire League of Villains on his own than spend another moment embarrassing himself in front of Serenity. What was his Hero career turning into!? At this point, his greatest enemy was himself. 

 

The unsettled boy dropped his classmate’s hand like it was a piece of coal. If he had held onto her any longer, the raised temperature of both fire users would practically have melded their hands together.

  
  


“Thank you for leading me through the train station. It would have been much more troublesome if I had gotten lost,” Serenity said, regaining her voice again. His insides cooled a bit, hearing the blonde’s gratitude. He was also thankful that she wasn’t planning to bury him with her earth powers. 

 

“Alright then. My house is a couple of blocks down this street” he said as he returned to his usual composed self, albeit still a little frazzled. Todoroki didn’t think anyone could be unruffled this close to Serenity. 

 

The two walked in silence, thankful for the chance to calm their skyrocketing heart beats. 

\--

 

Serenity had to remind herself to close her mouth when she stepped foot into Todoroki’s house. It wasn’t so much of a house, but rather a mini Japanese palace. It was like she was suddenly taken back to pre-modern Japan where everyone wore yukatas and drinking tea was as vital as breathing. 

 

The older, yet still tasteful Japanese designed home filled her vision. A large maple tree loomed over a small pond where bright, almost fluorescent koi fish swirled within the crystal clear water. A small section of the garden was dedicated to pots of small bonsai trees whose branches pridefully reached for the skies. Todoroki wordlessly led Serenity down a narrow cobblestone path to the entrance of his house. He inwardly relished in the fact that he was the one making her speechless for once. The pair stepped through into the entrance and proceeded to take off their shoes. 

 

“Whoa, Todoroki-kun! Are you rich?!”

 

“No. My dad is just Endeavor.” He braced himself for a flabbergasted look and for Serenity’s opinion of him to change forever. 

 

“Oh, is he some sort of entrepreneur? So your family’s in business. No wonder why your home is so nice!” 

 

Todoroki almost fell flat on his face. Did his dad’s name just fly over her head? There was no way she had never heard of his father’s name before. Everyone in the entire country could identify Endeavor with or without his fire beard. 

 

“No, my dad is the number two hero in the country, right after All Might.” Todoroki state plainly, waiting to gauge her reaction. 

 

All thought processing function jolted to a halt in Serenity’s mind. She just stepped on a landmine. If she didn’t make her next move correctly, something was going to blow up in her face. 

 

Loud, obnoxious, and painfully fake laughter spew out of the blonde’s mouth. Even a robot wouldn’t be able to interpret it. “HAHAHAHAHA….. Sorry about that, I just make the worst jokes sometimes.”

 

Todoroki didn’t even know what to say to that. But luckily for Serenity, he didn’t get the chance to address whatever that was.

 

“Shouto? Is that you? Welcome back! I’m making your favorite for dinner tonight!” replied a sisterly voice. Fuyu Todoroki popped her white head of hair through the door to greet her brother. When her eyes landed on the unfamiliar figure standing next to her aloof sibling, her knees almost gave out in shock.

 

“W-what—w-who is this?” The startled female managed to get out. There were too many question fighting to spill out of her mouth. 

 

It took everything Todoroki had to not freeze the hallway so he could cut this disaster of an introduction short. He gestured to the discombobulated blonde, “this is Tsukino Serenity. She’s from my class. We’re going to study for our finals together.”

 

The gods were indeed on Todoroki’s side today because the squeal of the kettle disrupted any chance of continuing this festival of awkwardness. “Onee-san, the kettle is boiling over.”

 

A look crossed her face. Todoroki could see the war of instincts waged inside her head. One side being the need to snuff the kettle’s screech and the other, the natural born sibling desire to squeeze every ounce of information out of the very first  _ girl _ Shouto had ever brought home. 

 

The kettle won. Todoroki hurriedly ushered Serenity past the kitchen where they could see Fuyumi trying to blow a breath of frosty air to calm the boiling teapot. He held his open palm a couple of millimeters behind her back but made no move to cross the minuscule distance. It’d be pushing it with all the other too-close-for-comfort incidences today. 

 

There was too many things going on at once for Serenity’s mind to comprehend. First, she was still reeling at the sight of Todoroki’s lavish home. Second, she was blindsided by a two second introduction to his sister. And finally, she could feel the ghost of Todoroki’s hand so close to her back, yet so far. They weren’t even touching and she could practically feel the heat from his palm. Serenity looked down at her feet, now choosing to focus on the soft slide of her socks against the waxed wooden paneled floors. 

 

The pair of U.A. students finally reached a room at the end of the hall. It was an simple tatami-matted living room with spare furniture. An oak grandfather clock stood against the wall, its pendulum swinging with the passing seconds. At the center of the room sat a kotatsu. Serenity imagined that the winters here must be so peaceful with the opportunity to warm one’s legs under one of Japan’s greatest inventions. 

 

The two sat down and took out their school stuff, albeit a bit stiffly. Neither could believe that Serenity was actually there in Todoroki’s house right now. Before either one could say something to break the awkward silence, the sliding door opened to reveal Fuyumi. The female Todoroki sibling held a tray of fresh tangerines and two cups of tea. “Sorry for the intrusion, I just wanted to bring over some snacks to welcome our guest.”

 

Todoroki could see through her façade in a second. She definitely wanted something. 

 

“I hadn’t had the opportunity to introduce myself earlier. My name’s Todoroki Fuyumi.” Both girls gave each other a slight bow. “So Tsukino-san, which class are you in? Shouto has never mentioned you before.” Her brother grimaced at the question. Where was the subtlety that the Todoroki’s had drilled into them? 

 

“I’m in Class 1-A! I recently just transferred so that’s probably why you haven’t heard about me yet,” Serenity answered, not seemingly bothered by the questions right of the bat. 

 

“Transferred?! I’ve never heard of that! You must be quite an amazing quirk user if you could transfer into U.A. in the middle of the year!”

 

“Haha! Umm, yea. I get that a lot. I think I still have much to improve on though.” Serenity was growing squeamish under the spotlight. Her worry grew as she feared that Todoroki’s sister would ask a question she couldn’t answer. 

 

While the interrogation was occurring, Todoroki surreptitiously slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Without glancing down, he tapped the screen to pull up the phone number to his house. 

 

“Onee-san, I think the phone is ringing.”

 

Fuyumi broke her rapid line of questioning Serenity to turn her ear to the door. “No, it’s not. You must be imagining things—“ Her sentence was cutoff by the shrill ring of their landline. She whipped her head back to glance at Todoroki suspiciously but quickly excused herself nonetheless. 

 

Serenity turned her head to look at her classmate, “do you have a psychic quirk you haven’t told me about?” 

 

“Do you have some other quirks that  _ you _ haven’t told me about?” Todoroki shot back. A slight shrug of her shoulders was all he got in response.  _ Touche _ .

 

The two opened their textbooks and finally started on their studies. After fifteen minutes of Serenity barely reading through the first two pages and absorbing absolutely nothing, her head fell to rest upon the pages. 

 

“What’s wrong?” inquired Todoroki. 

 

“I don’t think there’s any way I could possibly absorb all of this by tomorrow. I’ve never been good at studying.” Todoroki’s eyes widened in surprise. He’d never seen this side of Serenity before. She looked so well put together in school and on the battlefield. 

 

“Well, from my experience, the history exams are more about common knowledge than obscure historical facts, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. What don’t you know?” 

 

Serenity let out a long, defeated sigh. She didn’t even have an inkling of what she didn’t know. The student figured she could make by using previous school experience in her other world for subjects like math and physics and common sense for Hero law. The same couldn’t be said about history. How was one supposed to learn the history of a universe she’d barely lived in within one night?! 

 

The blonde sucked in a gulp of air, shot upward and slapped both her cheeks simultaneously to pump herself up. Todoroki almost fell back in surprise. 

 

“Alright! I can do this! Todoroki-kun, can you start from the beginning? And explain it to me like I never heard any of this information before!”

 

Todoroki regained his composure and acquiesced. He pulled out his history notes and reviewed them for a second. 

 

“Well the first occurrence of a quirk appeared in China. The genetic disposition quickly spread and within three generations. By now, more than 90% of the population has a quirk.”

 

Serenity pulled out her notebook and began avidly scribbling down notes. This was the first time in a long time that she was actually excited about studying. If her past self could see her now. 

 

“It was pretty much chaos during the first generation, but by the second, countries began creating schools to help teach users how to control their quirks. Ultra Academy was the first school in Japan to be established for that purpose. Agencies were also created to control the amount of citizens who wanted to use their quirks as a profession. Stricter laws were established for quirk users to maintain the peace.” 

 

“The majority of people have quirks that are more or less harmless. For example, changing one’s hair color or growing really long nails on a whim. Sometimes a quirk could be more of a nuisance. One of the most famous cases was Taiyou Hikari whose quirk had her body absorbing all light and reflecting it. She couldn’t control it no matter how hard she had tried, so she was essentially a constant walking ball of light. Another case, Amega Furu couldn’t control his rain quirk so rain followed him wherever he went, even within his own house.”

 

“Amega found a way to use his powers to benefit society. He traveled around through agricultural communities that were facing debilitating droughts. In the case of Taiyou, she took medicine to weaken her quirk, so her shine dimmed down to more of a soft glow.”

 

“A small portion have quirks that are extremely useful in combat. As you know, they can choose to use their powers for good and become heroes. Or use their powers to become villains.”

 

Todoroki paused, looking at the ceiling pensively. “Do you think it’s a choice? Being good or evil?”

 

Serenity was taken aback by the moral philosophy question sprung onto her. 

 

“Yes. I think it’s a choice. I’ve known many heroes that could have stepped down the wrong path and become the worst versions of themselves, but they didn’t. But I don’t think that villains are irredeemable. We are better than our worst crime. Sometimes people don’t believe there is a choice, which leads them the wrong path. Everyone deserves a chance of redemption, no matter who they were and what they’d done.”

 

Todoroki’s heart lurched. Serenity’s words triggered thoughts about his parents and the path he stood on now, trying to escape his father’s suffocating shadow. 

 

Serenity snapped out of her monologue, growing embarrassed when she finally processed her own words. “You must think I’m naive, thinking like this.”

 

“No. I much prefer your way of thinking. I think the world would look a lot different if people believed in second chances.”

 

The blonde smile a soft, enigmatic smile. “Sometimes even third or fourth ones, too.”

 

Serenity eyes turned upwards to the ceiling. “I wonder what it would have been like to be one of the first people to have quirks. It might have been very isolating for some of them, to be so different from everyone the moment they were born. To be deemed abnormal just by existing. It must been a lonely existence.”

 

It was Todoroki’s turn to be surprised. He never even considered that. Despite his treatment from his old man, he never once doubted whether or not he was accepted in his life. He was the one having trouble accepting himself. 

 

The students took a small snack break before continuing on with Todoroki’s explanation. He discussed notable heroes, the most recent being All Might, and important pieces of legislation that helped craft the quirk-wielding world into what it was today. When he finished, he finally noticed that Serenity’s head rested peacefully between the pages of her textbook. The boy wondered when she had drifted off; he hadn’t minded though. He was actually more surprised with himself. He couldn’t remember ever talking this much. 

 

So many things had changed since he started his first day at U.A. To say that it had been hectic was an understatement. Thinking about it, he couldn’t remember a time where it was this calm. It certainly did not settle down when the mysterious blonde appeared. 

 

Todoroki eyes trailed the golden river of hair cascading down her back and pooling onto the floor. His hands ached to run his fingers through the silky strands but he kept himself in check. Still, he couldn’t help but pick up a locket of gold close to him and examine it between his fingers. Her hair was so soft and it’s yellow sheen reminded him of the golden glow of the moon. 

 

A mumble escaped from the blonde and Todoroki dropped her hair like it had burned him. He planned to enter a fit of apologies but realized that she was still asleep. 

 

_ The lost moon princess floated aimlessly through space, the light of the stars guiding her way. But to where? Where was her home? Her home was with her friends. But it had been so long. So, so long. How did the sunlight catch in their eyes? How did their voices carry through the air? How soft were their touches of comfort? Why were such important memories slipping from her mind? Had it really been that long?  _

 

“I… want to go home…” softly whispered slumbering maiden. Her words were laced with melancholy. A rivulet of tear ran down her cheek. Without thinking, Todoroki reached out to catch it on his finger tip, caressing her face along the way. The teardrop froze. He drew his hand back, carefully balancing the frail crystalline orb on his finger. The boy placed it on his lips, allowing his warmth to bring the teardrop back to life. 

 

For the first time in his life, Todoroki learned what moonlight tasted like.


	6. The Worst Kept Secret

The written exams passed by in the blink of an eye. The elemental hero did her best considering that she’d only lived in this world for a month. It was strange. Before Serenity realized it, she actually started to think of this place as a second home. Of course it would never replace the first and only place she’d call home before. 

 

But the vagabond was getting accustomed to the streets where she walked unencumbered as an Ultra Academy student. She loved her morning walks to the bakery around the corner where she bought pastries for her friends. She loved entering Class 1-A to be welcomed with a litany of hello’s. She even loved it when Bakugo and her exchange fiery insults at each other, calling each other “chicken head” and “meatball head” respectively. 

 

But most of all, Serenity loved sitting next to Todoroki to be greeted with his soft, baritone “good mornings.”

 

How could this be possible though? The lost space-time traveler didn’t reserve the right to have these feelings. The Silver Crystal always pulled her away from the worlds she traveled to the moment she felt like rooting herself in a place she should never call home. It was better that way. Her home was her original world, by the side of her loving friends. 

 

Thankful to be finished with the exhausting exam day, Serenity returned home and took of her shoes at the entrance. But before she could even step a foot past her threshold, her Silver Imperium Crystal pulsed and a wave of blinding light hit her. Her knees painfully hit the ground as she clutched her head, trying to fight off the debilitating wave of nausea. 

 

Her last thought before her body hit the floor was whether or not she could attend school tomorrow. 

 

—

Aizawa-sensei stood in front of the classroom, his face as placid as usual. “Regardless of whether or not you failed the practical or written exam, all of you are required to attend the training camp next week.”

 

The students who did fail shot upon from their seats and cheered. 

 

“But be warned, those who failed need to attend extra remedial lessons, and I will personally head those.” The same students sunk back into their seats, cowering at such a terrifying prospect. 

 

The black-haired teacher continued, “I’m passing out the schedule for the training camp. Of course, most of the training exercises will be a surprise. It has phone numbers so your parents can call if need be.”

 

“Does anyone have any questions?” No one interjected. “Okay. Good. That reminds me, does anyone want to volunteer to deliver Tsukino-san’s exam scores to her? She had called in sick this morning.”

 

No one was surprised when Tsuyu and Ochako raised their hands without missing a beat. What everyone wasn’t expecting was the third hand that had quietly risen along with the two girls’. 

 

Todoroki fought every fiber of his being to keep his hand up amidst the stares of his classmates. He hated being the center of attention. 

 

Tsuyu examined her half-and-half classmate for a second, as if trying to dissect him. Her eyes narrowed on the reddening tip of his right ear, which his snowy hair did nothing to hide. She reached a definite conclusion and used her raised hand to bring Ochako’s hand down. 

 

“On second thought, I just remembered that we already made plans after school. Todoroki-kun can go ahead by himself if it’s no trouble.” The frog quirk holder said with no hidden intentions in her voice. 

 

“Umm. It’s no trouble. Tsukino-san’s house is along the way to mine.” The increasingly embarrassed boy said. 

 

Deku tilted his head to the side in confusion, completely oblivious to the situation at hand. “But Todoroki-kun, you don’t—“ Before he could finish his sentence, Ochako slammed her palm on his desk, giving him a spine-chilling look that he’d never seen on the nice girl before. 

 

Aizawa-sensei eyebrows shot to the ceiling in bewilderment at the odd interaction of Class 1-A. They were getting weirder by the day. He let out a large sigh, already dreading the upcoming training camp. 

 

“Fine by me. Todoroki, come with me to the office so you can get her address. Alright, with that settled, class is over. Be at the school by 6AM sharp or you’ll be left behind.” His eyes narrowed at the electric blonde in the class. “That especially goes for you, Kaminari.”

 

The electric boy whined, “come on Sensei. I’d shock myself awake for this trip!”

 

“Whatever needs to be done,” Eraserhead said plainly. 

 

Some of the dismissed students hurriedly shuffled out of the classroom, mentally making checklists for the upcoming trip. Pinky stayed behind, a brilliant idea brewing in her head. 

 

The pink Alien jumped up, startling the students around her. She weaseled her way through the clogged aisle of desks and reached the front. With all the clamor she made, most students stopped packing up and turned their attention toward the spunkiest girl in class. 

 

Pinky raised her hand toward the sky and slapped the whiteboard with aplomb. “I’M TAKING BETS!!!”

 

Kirishima’s shark tooth smile grew as he rubbed his hands together in earnest. “Ooh-hoo. Sound interesting. What are we betting on?”

 

The pink girl smiled deviously, “on when and how Todoroki plans to confess to Serenity!! Or vice versa.”

 

When the class went silent in reaction to her ingenious announcement, she declared, “oh come on! Their relationship is the worst kept secret! Don’t tell me you guys haven’t noticed!? I’m betting that Serenity will confess at the end of the training camp.”

 

Kaminari was the first to reply, “I want to get in on the action! I’ll bet my week’s allowance.”

 

The bespectacled Iida arm fervently shot up and interjected, “wait! I don’t think it’s advisable to intervene in our classmates’ relationship, or lack thereof.”

 

Pinky rolled her eyes. What a spoilsport. “Alright then, those who partake in the betting pool are not allowed to directly or indirectly mess with the couple. This means no devious traps to get the two alone to force them to confess or words of encouragement UNLESS one of the participants asks for advice. How does that sound?”

 

“It sounds like you already had said devious trap in mind,” Iida replied with suspicion, “but yes, I think it’s fine if they progress naturally without our interference.” 

 

With that said, the students of Class 1-A yelled their predictions left and right. Pinky scrambled to write all the situations on the board and to take a picture of the final product. 

 

Tsuyu squinted at the last prediction, which belong to  her explosive classmate. “Bakugo, are you sure you want to keep this as your prediction? It’s a bit…,” she struggled to find the right word, “violent.”

 

“What,” the irate boy scoffed, “I could see it happening.””

 

“This just sounds like how  _ you  _ would react to someone confessing to you.”

 

“SHUT UP!!!”

 

—

Todoroki stood with his fist paralyzed two inches in front of Serenity’s door. He’d never been so nervous to face what lied behind a door before. 

 

Taking the leap, the scarlet-snow boy brought his knuckles down on the metal door. He heard a weak, muffled “coming” and some rummaging on the other side of the door. Crap, did he wake her up? Should he leave? Just leave the medicine and dash? 

 

Before he could decide, the door opened to reveal a disheveled Serenity. Todoroki’s face lit up like a display of red fireworks. Even when sick, Serenity was a sight to behold. 

 

The half-hot-half-cold quirk user never realized just how long Serenity’s hair was until this moment as it cascaded down her back, undone. She had attempted to haphazardly put her hair up in her customary buns, but they ended up adorably lopsided with most of her hair trailing like a waterfall until her knees. Her cerulean eyes lacked their usual sparkle, appearing hazy. Her face was flushed with such a high fever that even he could feel the heat coming off the blonde in waves. Her pink, bunny pajamas were misbuttoned with gaps that Todoroki pointedly chose to ignore for his own sanity. It was strange. Serenity always seemed so well put together in class and on the battlefield, no matter what obstacle lied before her. He’d never seen her look so  _ human _ until now. 

 

Serenity, on her part, wasn’t exactly sure what she was seeing before was real. It was hard to say between the high fever and her full-body ache that what appeared before her wasn’t an illusion. Was this really Todoroki? She much rather believe that it was a cruel trick of the gods. The lost moon princess was never so lucky. 

 

After a few moments of terse silence, Todoroki was the first one to speak. “Umm… Tsukino-san, I have your test scores from the final exams along with the summer camp schedule.”

 

Todoroki’s baritone voice shocked Serenity out of her stupor. “Oh! You’re real?”

 

Perplexed, he replied, “what else would I be?”

 

Serenity really wanted to respond, but simply waking up and walking to the door was pushing her body past its limit. Her already out of focus world went black and her body lost what little energy it had to keep her upright. Before her body could meet a cruel fate with the floor, Todoroki shot forward and Serenity met with the boy’s hard chest instead. The poor boy’s mind went into overdrive, something it had only done for battle previously. What was he to do with an unconscious girl?!

 

—

 

After taking a few deep breaths, Todoroki settled on a simple plan: take care of Serenity until he could make sure she was stable. He carefully shifted one arm behind her shoulders and placed the other beneath her knees. Effortlessly, he lifted Serenity’s body up and carried her close to his chest. Serenity’s head nestled safely onto her classmates shoulder as he made his way through her apartment. 

 

Sunlight entered through her floor to ceiling glass windows and washed the room in a tepid light. The tall windows certainly added to the large sense of space. While his room was wide in its space, Serenity’s ceiling shot up twice as high. The short entrance led to a single bedroom with no furniture other than a plush bed in the center and a minimalist white wardrobe to the side. He saw two doors which he guessed were the bathroom and kitchen. 

 

There was no way Todoroki could call this place a home. And that came from the boy who barely had any decorations in his own room. Still, he had a tea kit his mother gave him along with a couple of All Might action figures he’d recently unearthed. He’d dared say his sometimes suffocating home was warm compared to Serenity’s living space. 

 

How was there no television or even a couch in her room? Perhaps it was because she’d just moved in. She’d claimed she arrived to the city a little over a month ago, but there were no boxes, packed or unpacked. Based on his sister’s preference, didn’t girls at least have some photos or at least plants to decorate her quarters? But there was simply nothing. The only splash of color was a pink bunny-eared alarm clock on her bedside table. 

 

Maybe she couldn’t afford extra decorations. But the blonde was living in a corner apartment on the top floor of one of the most expensive buildings in the city. Surely she could spare a few dollars on a houseplant. Perhaps this was all her parents money and they simply didn’t want to provide for any extra accommodations. But Todoroki couldn’t really imagine that. Even his father, with all his faults, provided Todoroki with what he needed. Begrudgingly the boy knew that if he asked, his old man would send him whatever he needed with no questions asked. 

 

Plus, he couldn’t imagine that someone as kind and bright as Serenity came from a family as strained as his was. She seemed like the type to grow up in a happy household with a sibling to play with and a pet to sleep next to. The blonde was like sunlight, attracting anyone lucky enough to glance in her direction. Wouldn’t she constantly be surrounded by friends who exchanged their loyalty for the gift of simply being in her presence?

 

Thinking about it, Serenity had never once talked about her life before U.A. Whenever the subject came up, she’d either give a terse response or simply switch topics altogether. The blonde was always so casual about it that Todoroki never even noticed till now. 

 

Serenity was always looking far off into the distance when she wasn’t engaged in an animated conversation with their classmates. She would stare out the window, sometimes not even hearing Present Mic until he turned on his speakerphone. The occasion was rare and few but being someone who sat behind Serenity, Todoroki eventually caught on. During those times, he’d always wondered what was happening in her mind. She’d always looked so somber, which didn’t fit her cheery, happy-go-lucky personality.

 

His arms detected a slight shift and before he knew it, he felt Serenity’s burning forehead burrow into his neck. Now it was Todoroki’s face that was on fire. The blonde let out a sigh of contentment that curled his toes. 

 

“Mmmm. You feel so cool,” she mumbled in a fevered daze. Todoroki didn’t feel so cool. He felt like he was one second away from melting. 

 

The increasingly embarrassed boy rushed to place Serenity gently onto her bed. She used what strength she had to burrow under the covers. Slowly, Serenity opened her eyes to be greeted with the worried visage of Todoroki. 

 

“Are you okay?” said the boy in a soft voice.

 

“I’m going to be. Don’t worry so much,” reassured the blonde.

 

A part of Todoroki didn’t think he’d ever stop worrying about her. How did it come to this?

 

“Sometimes I don’t think any of this is real. Sometimes I think this is all a dream I haven’t woken up from.” Again, her eyes were looking somewhere else, as if she weren’t even in this plane of existence anymore. 

 

What an odd thing to say. Maybe it was just the fever talking. 

 

“W-would you like to eat some rice porridge my sister made?” Todoroki managed to stumble out. 

 

Despite how exhausted she was, she still had it in her to be surprised at Todoroki’s offer. Her heart overflowed with warmth by such a touching gesture. Serenity hopes the bright smile she gave him in response was enough to show her thanks. 

 

With nervous fingers, Todoroki reached into a small bag and brought out a small bowl-shaped container. He had called ahead to ask his sister’s help in preparing the small meal. All the time spent in the training room left no time in the kitchen so Todoroki was next to helpless in most household matters. But he wanted to do  _ something  _ to help Serenity for reasons he still couldn’t fathom. 

 

The worried boy had gone to his house to get the meal followed by a trip to a convenience store to buy some medicine. Now here he was by Serenity’s bedside about to spoon feed the sick girl. 

 

Sometimes you really never know where you’re going to end up. 

 

Todoroki scooped a mouthful of still hot porridge and blew a cool breath onto it, careful not to make his icy air cold enough to freeze the broth. He pressed the now warm spoon between Serenity’s lips. After feeding the blonde half of the porridge, he noticed that her eyes were drooping to a close. 

 

“I’ll save the rest so you can eat it when you wake up.” The male U.A. student said but he doubted Serenity was still listening. Looked like she was making her way towards dreamland. 

 

“My mother used to take care of me like this when I was little. I didn’t have much control of my powers back then. I always had so many hot and cold fevers, what with my quirks fighting for dominance.” His eyes widened at the admission. He had never told anyone that. Was he technically telling Serenity this now, with her nearing unconsciousness? Maybe that was making him braver. He continued. 

 

“It was harder when my cold quirk took over. I remember my limbs feeling like ice—like I was one step away from becoming a corpse. My mother was afraid to touch me. With her own ice quirk, she thought her touch would worsen my condition. My father didn’t help much. He’d hire a doctor and the moment he deemed that I was well enough, he’d throw me back into the training room with no reprieve.” Todoroki felt tears burn at the back of his eyes and stopped saying more lest he give in to the urge to cry. He’d stop allowing himself the freedom to shed tears the moment his mother shed hers. The poor boy didn’t want to give his mother another reason to cry. 

 

The boy casted a gaze back to the sleeping Serenity and noticed that her temperature had risen. Like his mother used to do, he cooled his right hand and placed it gently on the blonde girl’s forehead. It felt unnaturally hot, even hotter than an average person going through a fever should feel. Perhaps her fire quirk was causing an abnormal rise to her temperature like his did. 

 

Just as he thought to call a doctor, Serenity’s forehead lit up with a bright golden light. Warm light escaped through his fingers and Todoroki lifted his hand to reveal a brilliant, dazzling golden upturned crescent moon. His mouth fell agape in shock. 

 

What was going on?! It didn’t look good though. Serenity’s face scrunched up in pain and her knuckles went white from grasping her blanket so hard. 

 

_ Serenity was Sailor Cosmos once again. Platinum hair cascaded down her back like a silver river. Her diaphanous form shined prettily amidst a sea of nothingness. All the eye could see for miles and miles was white. The fabric of the realm she stood in rippled as a quake ran through it.  _

 

_ Instinctively, her blood knew where she was. How could she not recognize the Silver Imperium Crystal, her companion since birth. She recognized the quake as a sign of frustration. “Please, Silver Imperium Crystal! I don’t want to leave yet!” _

 

_ Another quake reverberated underneath her feet, as if in objection.  _

 

_ The memories she’d made at Ultra Academy flashed through her mind. Her heart swelled with warmth at the thought of friends she’d made here. “I beg of you! Please give me more time.” _

 

_ The crystal wasn’t budging. She felt the pull of space-time greedily tug at her being. She didn’t belong here and the fabric of time and space needed her to know it. She was an anomaly. A vagabond with everywhere to go but nowhere to stay.  _

 

_ “There’s still so much I can learn here,” her voice barely went above a desperate whisper. A secret memory of Todoroki’s soft smile flashed to the forefront of her mind. Her heart did something it hadn’t done for a long time. It yearned for the present. For so long, she had been stuck searching for the past. While the moon princess wouldn’t stop searching for her lost home, this was the first time in a long time that she’d felt like this. Was it selfish of her to chase this feeling? To finally be excited to face the day and the things it brought to her.  _

 

_ The rippling of the fabric of space-time came to a stop. It seemed that Serenity’s emotional plea had quelled the call of the Silver Crystal for now.  _

 

As quickly as the blinding light on her forehead had flared, it dimmed without a trace. The golden crescent moon kissed her brow no more. Todoroki stood by Serenity’s side, more confused than ever. 

 

“Just what on earth are you?”


	7. Train Your Heart Out

The sun hung high in the sky as its rays greeted the students exiting the bus. Serenity’s blue eyes strained as she scanned the wooded horizon, wondering what awaited her between the towering trees. 

 

As the last foot plopped onto the scented earth, four brightly colored figures forced their way into Serenity’s field of vision. The Wild, Wild Pussycats were an unforgettable set of heroes. From their costumes to their odd catchphrases, they were heroes who left quite an impression. Hearing their numerous accomplishments from the mumblings of Deku, Serenity was astonished at the amount of coordination that these quirk-holders had. 

 

After introductions finished, the U.A. students held their breaths to await what their objectives were for the day. Aizawa-sensei held a compact round device with a one inch thickness. He pressed a button on the side and the previously dark screen came alive. The colors on the screen flashed between red and blue before settling on one. 

 

“This device will serve as a tracker and team determinator. Red team vs. blue team. You have two objectives. The first is to battle an opposing color and capture the tracker. The second is to find the safe house somewhere in the forest. You must capture another person’s tracker in order for your arrival to the goal to count. The deadline is sundown. Any questions?” The black-clad teacher said in a tone that communicated he would much rather have slept in. 

 

Kirishima’s voiced perked up. “What do we win if we get to the finish line first?” 

 

“Honor,” said Aizawa-sensei with a straight face. 

 

Serenity almost choked on air. She could practically feel the air sizzling from memories of another world—of a scarred boy with a top knot screaming toward the red skies. She shook herself from her daze of memories. The blonde space-time traveler had fought so hard with her crystal to allow her to stay in this world. She should better enjoy it while it lasted. 

 

“In all seriousness, the first half of the class who make it will be exempt from chores at the lodging. Along with bragging rights if they so choose to execute them,” said the catty leader of the mountain rescue group. 

 

“You can go alone or form groups. If your tracker gets taken, then you have a chance to steal it back. Don’t sabotage the trackers! It’ll make our jobs harder in case we have to find you!” A coy smile stretch across the lady’s face, “Be careful, there’s a lot of wicked challenges that await you in the forest!” 

 

The students faced the circle of trees so dense that only darkness looked back. A shot rang in the air and the heroes in training shot into the woods, their trackers beeps trailing along the way. 

 

Serenity stole a look at her tracker. Blue team. The GPS tracker wouldn’t turn on until an hour into the field training, so she wouldn’t be able to tell if an opponent was approaching. So along with finding the location of the safe house, she had to either battle or swipe a red member’s tracker away to successfully complete the challenge. 

 

It had been awhile since an opportunity arrived to test her powers without an audience. For the first time, she felt fire in her veins, igniting her desire to push forward and rise to the top. Being around so many students with mad drives did that to a person. Just as she was far enough into the woods where she no longer felt anyone’s presence, the blonde girl spotted movement from the trees. A mechanical arm shot out of the foliage, grabbing her mercilessly by the waist. Serenity grit her teeth. She shouldn’t have underestimated the top school in the country. 

 

With a quick prayer to the Goddess of Earth, she slammed her hands together. Two walls of earth erupted forth and crushed the mechanical monster like a bug. Now freed, she continued on her path, heart racing like a thunderstorm. 

 

\---

Finally, after running for what felt forever in the darkness of trees, she found herself drawing towards the only light in the dark greenery. Before she could stop herself, her feet went from the firm earth of the forest to breaking through the surface of water. Within the blink of an eye, her face greeted the water with a resounding smack. 

 

Serenity thrashed around like she was drowning for a hot second until her knees hit the shallow depth. Her head rose out of the water and she squirted a mouthful of water out like a cherub in a fountain. Thankfully, no one was there to witness one of the most embarrassing moment of her life. The U.A. student stood up and scanned the clearing around her. It was a relatively large lake bordered by the forest around them. A sandy shore blanketed the side of the lake.

 

The surface of the water was so calm, it mirrored the sky, creating an illusion of floating in heaven. This lake was peaceful enough for her to pause. The girl had been running for almost an hour now, either dodging or taking hits from more mechanical monstrosities or nightmarish earthform creatures. Her limbs were burning, begging to rest. The cool water lapping at her knees wasn’t helping either. Even a marathoner would need to take break around now, right? But what about that one childhood story: “The Rabbit and the Tortoise.” She should probably learn from her fellow bunny and not take the lesson for granted. Time to keep moving. 

 

The beeping of her tracker drew her out of her reverie. An hour had passed, meaning that the tracker would now show the location of both blue and red members. She yanked the tracker from her pocket and saw a blue dot and a blinking red dot fast approaching. Judging by the rounding trajectory of the red dot, it was on the other side of the lake, running along the perimeter of the trees. Wait! Had that meant the anonymous student had already spotted her?! And there she was mesmerized by the water like a sitting duck. 

 

Serenity beckoned several liquid orbs, thankful that she was surrounded by her favorite element. Stretching her arm outward in the direction of her mysterious challenger, she fired the water projectiles, freezing them along the way. They were the worst kind of snowballs. Several made impact with the trees, splitting the bark as they did so. It didn’t seem like any had hit her pursuer. Should she take this fight to him? Or let herself fall into this cat-and-mouse game? 

 

A frozen projectile shot from between the darkness of the trees and immediately she knew who her challenger was. 

 

It was Todoroki. It was  _ always _ Todoroki. This time though she smiled at the joke the gods so often played on her. 

 

The ball of ice didn’t have the luxury of hitting Serenity’s form as it halted a centimeter in front of her nose and returned to its aqueous state. Water would never betray her as such.

 

“That was a pretty nice fall you had there,” came the cool voice of Todoroki. The half-and-half hero finally revealed himself, stepping out of the trees. The blonde rubbed her neck in embarrassment. 

 

“So you saw that.” 

 

Todoroki hadn’t interacted much with Serenity ever since he stopped by since her cold. Neither Serenity nor Todoroki spoke of the intimate moment that had occurred between  them. The teenage boy didn’t know whether she was outrightly ignoring it like he was or she had simply forgotten due to her fever-induced haze. Whatever the case, Todoroki refused to acknowledge the incident--especially not the out-of-this-world flash of moonlight from the blonde’s forehead. 

 

His breath had caught in his throat when he had finally seen her again, standing there in the peaceful lake, lost in the tranquility of it all. It never seemed like this blonde girl was part of this world. Nor was she ever in his reach. 

 

“Well, let’s not waste any time now. Those chores aren’t going to do themselves, Todoroki-kun!”

 

Serenity made no haste with the first strike. Lifting her palms up, she commanded a tidal wave aimed at Todoroki to send him flying backwards. An ordinary student would have immediately cowered at the force of such a wave, but Todoroki was no such student. He slashed the wave in half with an axe of fire and summoned a wave of his own ice underneath to travel across the lake. 

 

Serenity pursed her lips in frustration. This was  _ not _ going to be easy, but it would so be worth the win. The “Elemental Hero” lived up to her name and sent a shocking ball of lightning towards the ice beneath Todoroki’s feet. Lightning was fast, but Todoroki was faster. The half-and-half hero skillfully swerved and dodged the electric ball with ease. 

  
Whoops. That wasn’t good. The moment the lightning attack hit the surface of the water, it turned the entire lake into a cesspool of electricity. The sparks were too fast for Serenity to avoid as most of her body was still submerged in water. An electric shock ripped through her body and her knees hit the bottom of the lake. 

 

Todoroki faltered at the sight of Serenity in pain and almost called off the battle. 

 

Serenity smirked, even while fighting through the pain of her fried nerves. How nostalgic. This wasn’t the first time she was accidentally hit by one of Jupiter’s attack via her own clumsiness. As the pain ebbed away, she shot up and summoned a tidal wave to carry her to Todoroki. Taking advantage of Todoroki’s momentary hesitation, she crafted a harpoon of ice out of the water spray and catapulted the icy weapon her red-and-white challenger. 

 

Todoroki should have given Serenity more credit. Todoroki didn’t waste time in marveling at how quickly the blonde had bounced back. Instead, his left side erupted into a flamethrower and melted that freezing harpoon into a puddle. 

 

Serenity tsked in frustration. Remembering how adept he had been in his fight against Deku and Bakugo, she concluded that Todoroki was the worst kind of opponent because he was simply the best. He had both the abundance of power and the endurance to follow through with his monstrous attacks. Not only that, his keen sense could predict the moves of average fighters before they even attacked. Serenity knew that the only reason why Todoroki hadn’t called forth a fire or ice attack the size of a mountain yet was because he had want to see what she was made of. 

 

‘Well, you’ll regret what your asking for.’ Serenity theorized that there must be a reason to why Todoroki always pushed people away with his attacks. She was betting on the chance that the half-and-half hero was actually not as adept of controlling his power at close range. Which was perfect for the blonde, because that was her specialty. While it was difficult for her to control her elemental attacks at further range, she was particularly skilled at manipulating the elements when they were right at her fingertips. 

 

The two of them did the quirk attack tango, blasting different elemental attacks left and right. Serenity studied Todoroki’s power as they did so. It was amazing, the level of dexterity and skill he had over his power. He had total domination over his powers. And his range was truly incredible. Serenity’s range was that of a tennis court. But Todoroki’s range was like five soccer fields combined. If he had wanted to, he could have frozen the whole lake to completely immobilize her in the blink of an eye. 

 

Todoroki, on his part, studied Serenity with the same intensity. He hadn’t seen her true display of power since her impromptu battle with Bakugo in the schoolyard. But even then, he knew that she barely scratched the surface of her potential. Shuddering at the thought of how adroit her hand-to-hand combat was, he kept sending a flurry of fire and ice attacks to keep the blonde at bay. 

 

Serenity muscles screamed for reprieve. Her control on her last attack wavered, and the tidal wave broke before it even made contact with Todoroki’s cannon ball of fire. If this became a war of attrition, there was no doubt he would win. She wasn’t yet in her tip-top shape. Her body was still healing from the temper tantrum her crystal gave when she had begged it for more time in this world. That plus her hour-long trek in the woods, fighting off those forsaken machines, meant that this battle needed to end soon. 

 

But she could tell that Todoroki was starting to tire as well. Even though his control and power seemed impeccable, a blip of a ceasefire existed between Todoroki’s attack. Todoroki couldn’t shoot off his fire and ice attacks at the exact same time. And the time he needed to recharge was increasing millisecond by millisecond. If the Elemental Hero could time it just right, she could take Todoroki’s tracker in that split of a second. 

 

It was time to end this. She took a page out of Bakugo’s book and fired small explosions from her hands to give herself a boost across the water. With a breath, she sent a small gust of wind to propel her forward. Her eyes dried out at the rush of wind pushing against her. Todoroki shot a blast of fire to protect his front but she countered with wall of water to block his searing flames. The gust of wind swerved and she rocketed towards Todoroki from the side, her arms reaching out toward his tracker. But before she could understand what happened, the air in her lungs froze.

 

The extreme shock caused her to white-out for a second and she almost thought her powers had run amok and sent her into a blizzard. But no, just as she was approaching Todoroki’s right side, he had shot a hand out and single-handedly sent Serenity into a one person Ice Age. Serenity’s limbs were were completely paralyzed in ice, and everything but her chest and head became encased in a blood-freezing glacier. The blonde girl didn’t even have to look to know that there was a mountainous glacier sprouting from her body. She could just  _ feel  _ it as an elemental bender. 

 

But it was so odd. Todoroki’s ice was so different. When she had studied waterbenders in the other world, she had seen them coax the water into obeying their command. And the  _ really  _ powerful waterbending masters would even be able to take away control from lesser ones. But Serenity knew that even if she could reach that level, she would never be able to do that to Todoroki. Something about being completely encased within Todoroki’s element showed her why. It was as if the molecules of Todoroki’s ice  _ screamed  _ his name.

 

“Y-y-you got me,” Serenity said through clattering teeth. She was losing the feeling of her limbs fast. Todoroki’s ice was even colder than normal ice and the air coming out of her breath crystallized into snow. “G-g-guess I would have lost to you in the sports festival.” She couldn’t help but remember the video of Sero’s defeat at the hands of Todoroki. 

 

“No,” Todoroki replied matter-of-factly, “not if you had given it your all.” Serenity’s eyes grew wide with absolute wonder and astonishment. What was he talking about? But before she could question him further, she was cut off by Todoroki’s encroaching figure. 

 

As he reached his left hand out to Serenity’s frozen figure, she couldn’t help but ask in a much deserved confused tone, “umm… what are you doing?”

 

Todoroki wasn’t facing her. The red color of his cheeks matched the scarlet shade of his hair. “I’m sorry. This is the fastest way to get you out,” he paused, “unless you want frostbite.” 

 

The half-and-half boy place his hand on Serenity’s chest, right atop her pounding heart.  _ ‘God, this had been a hundred times easier with Sero.’ _ Todoroki had an inkling that his sister would never look at him the same way if he ever told her about this. Even though this moment had to be the most embarrassing moment in his entire life, Todoroki couldn’t help but relish in the warmth of Serenity right beneath his fingertips. She was simply intoxicating in every sense of the word. 

 

At this point, the blonde would have much rather been left to freeze within Todoroki’s glacier. It might have been a bit melodramatic to say that she preferred dying of frostbite than living with the inescapable heat that came with Todoroki’s mere touch. 

 

Slowly but surely, the wash of warmth replaced Todoroki’s freeze. The entire time, neither had the courage to look at each other, both wishing that the moment would last forever and end in the next second. But finally it was over, and Serenity felt herself quickly detaching from the icy prison. But her limbs were not working just yet. The combination of her limbs being frozen and her earlier battle with Todoroki pushed her body past the limit. She promptly fell onto the hard ice below her feet. Or she would have. Instead, Todoroki deftly caught her and she slid gently into the stronghold of his arms. Their bodies molded together and it was like two puzzle pieces finally connecting. That’s how right it felt as Todoroki held Serenity within his arms. He could have held onto her forever if it wasn’t for the godforsaken tracker alerting that they had little time left. 

 

Todoroki sighed inwardly, knowing that this moment was over. He scooped up Serenity within his arms. 

 

“Todoroki-kun! What are you doing?!” Serenity protested as her weak limbs tried and failed to push herself away from the boy.

 

“Carrying you,” he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

 

“I can walk just fine!”

 

“Really?” And without another word, he let go of his hold on her. “Eeek!” She unceremoniously shrieked as her feeble limbs desperately shot out to cling onto Todoroki. The half-and-half boy smirked. 

 

The blonde blushed profusely at her current predicament. “Okay, maybe I can’t walk or move any of my limbs.”

 

“Come on.” Todoroki said as he turned around and bent down, gesturing her to climb onto his shoulders. Serenity silently agreed to piggyback onto Todoroki and pushed through her embarrassment of having to accept his offer. Once in position, she sighed in relief, letting her body melt into Todoroki’s firm, muscular form. She let her head fall on Todoroki’s left side, unconsciously seeking his warmth. 

 

He shivered as her warm breath caressed his scar. This was the first time that anyone had ever been so close to this part of him that only reminded him of his failures.

 

Not realizing that Serenity was drifting of, lulled to sleep by her exhaustion and Todoroki’s warmth, he asked her something that had been bugging him since the battle had begun. 

 

“Tsukino-san.”

 

Serenity scoffed lightly at the “san”. When was he going to stop being so formal?

 

“Yes, Todoroki-kun,” she said, not hiding her exhaustion. Her soft words were so close to Todoroki’s ears that it sent a shiver down his spine. 

 

“How come you hadn’t tried to manipulate my fire and ice like you do with your own elements?”

 

“Cause it’s yours.” Serenity said it like it was the most obvious truth in the world. “Your power is so inherently  _ yours _ that I could never control them even if I become the greatest elemental hero in the world.” And with that Serenity fell asleep without another word. 

 

A smile graced Todoroki’s face.


End file.
